National Nutrition Survey Pakistan 2011 - Gilani Foundationgilanifoundation.com/homepage/Free_Pub/HEALTH/National...Mir Asghar Ali Khan (Manager, Research and Outreach) Mr. Ishrat

-National Nutrition Survey Report 2011-

National Nutrition Survey

Pakistan

2011

Aga Khan University, Pakistan

Pakistan Medical Research Council (PMRC)

Nutrition Wing, Cabinet Division, Government of Pakistan

Supported by UNICEF Pakistan

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Survey Team, Aga Khan University, Pakistan

Principal Investigator Prof. Zulfiqar A Bhutta

FCPS, FRCPCH, PhD Founding Chair Division of Women & Child Health

Aga Khan University, Pakistan

National Survey Coordinator Dr. Sajid Bashir Soofi

Survey Coordinators

Mr. S. Shujaat H. Zaidi (Senior Social Scientist Research) Dr. Muhammad Atif Habib (Senior Instructor Research)

Mr. Imtiaz Hussain (Senior Social Scientist Research)

Regional Coordinators

Mr. Gul Nawaz, Mr. Maswar Hussain, Dr. Abdul Razzaq Lasi, Dr. Azam Baber, Dr. Tariq Samejo, Dr. Mushtaq Dero, Mr. Mushtaq Mirani, Dr. Noushad Ali & Mr. Asmatullah

Data Management & Analysis

Mr. Imran Ahmed (Data Manager) Mr. Zaid Shakoor Bhatti (Data Analyst)

Mr. Najeebur Rehman (Data Coordinator)

Management and Administration

Mir Asghar Ali Khan (Manager, Research and Outreach) Mr. Ishrat Abbas (Assistant Manager Budget and Finance)

Mr. Mohammad Siddque and Shukurullah Baig (Logistic Management) Rashid Khan and Khuram Noorani (Financial Managements)

Mr. Didar Alam (Laboratory Coordinator)

Collaborators PMRC

Dr. Huma Qureshi (Deputy Director) Dr. Arif Munir

Mr. Mehmood & Mr. Rizwanullah

Nutrition Wing, Cabinet Division, Govt. of Pakistan Dr. Baseer Ahmed Achakzai

National Nutrition Focal Person

Federal Bureau of Statistics Mr. Muhammad Ramzan Khan (Ex-Director Sample Design)

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INDEX

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION --------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------1 1.1 PAKISTAN – An Introduction ------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------1 1.2 Malnutrition among Women and Children in Pakistan – Background ---------------------------------1 1.3 Review of Literature – Background and Magnitude of the Problem -----------------------------------2 1.4 Need for Nutrition Survey --------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------3 CHAPTER 2: SURVEY DESIGN AND METHODS ------------------------- ------------------------------------------ 2.1 Objectives ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------5 2.2 Indicators for National Nutrition Survey ---------------------------- ------------------------------------------5 2.3 Survey Design -------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------6 2.3.1 Universe ------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------6 2.3.2 Sampling Frame -------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------6 2.3.3 Listing Activity----------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------7 2.3.4 Stratification ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------7 2.3.5 Sample Size and its allocation --------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------8 2.3.6 Sample selection procedure --------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------8 2.3.7 Target Population ------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------9 2.3.8 Survey Material and Methods -------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------9 2.3.9 Description of Questionnaire (Quantitative) -------------------- ------------------------------------------9 2.3.10 Description of qualitative research ------------------------------ ------------------------------------------10 2.3.11 Qualitative research sample and target population --------- ------------------------------------------11 2.3.12 Tools for qualitative data collection ----------------------------- ------------------------------------------11 2.3.13 Transcription and translation of qualitative data------------- ------------------------------------------12 2.3.14 Biochemical Analysis------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------12 2.3.15 Project Pre-Implementation Steps ------------------------------- ------------------------------------------12 2.3.16 Identification and Recruitment of Field Staff ----------------- ------------------------------------------13 2.3.17 Survey Teams ---------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------13 2.3.18 Training ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------14 2.3.19 Coding Scheme for Assigning Processing Codes -------------- ------------------------------------------14 2.3.20 Plan of Operation, Training and Monitoring ------------------- ------------------------------------------14 2.3.21 Data Management, Transfer and Analysis Plan --------------- ------------------------------------------15 2.3.23 Ethical approval and Confidentiality ---------------------------- ------------------------------------------16 Results of National Nutrition Survey ----------------------------------- ------------------------------------------17 CHAPTER 3: BACKGROUND AND HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS -----------------------------------------18 3.1 Completion of Data Collection ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------18 3.1.1 Blood and Urine Specimen------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------19 3.2 Background and Household Characteristics ----------------------- ------------------------------------------19 3.3 Formal Education – Head of Household ---------------------------- ------------------------------------------19 3.4 Occupation – Head of Household ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------20 3.5 Nature of Dwelling by Type of Floor, Roof and Walls------------ ------------------------------------------20 3.6 Type of Cooking Fuel Used -------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------22 3.7 Source of Drinking Water ----------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------22 CHAPTER 4: FOOD INSECURITY IN PAKISTAN ------------------------- ------------------------------------------24 1-Food secure: ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------25

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2-Food insecure without hunger ------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------25 3-Food insecure with hunger (moderate) ------------------------------ ------------------------------------------25 4-Food insecure with hunger (severe) ----------------------------------- ------------------------------------------25 CHAPTER 5: MATERNAL HEALTH AND NUTRITION ------------------ ------------------------------------------28 Section 1: Basic Data: Age, Education and Marital status (Mother of Index Child) --------------------28 5.1.1 Age Distribution of Index Mothers--------------------------------- ------------------------------------------28 5.1.2 Formal Education ------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------28 5.1.3 Marital Status and Current Pregnancy Status (Mother of index child) ------------------------------28 Section 2: Reproductive History and Antenatal Care --------------- ------------------------------------------28 5.2.1 Reproductive History (Mother of Index Child) ------------------ ------------------------------------------28 5.2.2 Antenatal Care ---------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------29 Section 3: Knowledge of micronutrients and vitamin rich foods ------------------------------------------32 5.3.1 Knowledge of Micronutrient ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------32 5.3.2-Knowledge of Vitamin Rich Foods --------------------------------- ------------------------------------------33 5.3.3 Knowledge about iodized salt and its usage: -------------------- ------------------------------------------34 5.3.4 Consequences of Micronutrient deficiencies ------------------- ------------------------------------------35 Section 4: Clinical Examination (Mothers of Index Child) ---------- ------------------------------------------36 Section 5: Anthropometry ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------37 Section 6: Micronutrient Deficiency ------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------39 Section 7: Biochemical Analysis: ------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------42 1-Hemoglobin Levels: -------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------42 2-Ferritin Levels: --------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------44 3-Iron Deficiency Anemia ---------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------45 4-Vitamin A Deficiency (Mother of Index Child) ----------------------- ------------------------------------------46 5-Zinc Deficiency --------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------47 6-Calcium Deficiency:--------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------49 7- Vitamin D Deficiency: ----------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------50 CHAPTER 6: CHILD HEALTH AND NUTRITION ------------------------- ------------------------------------------51 Section 1: Nutrition Status of the Index Children -------------------- ------------------------------------------51 6.1.1 Children 0 – 59 months ----------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------51 6.1.2 Sex and Age Distribution of Index Children ---------------------- ------------------------------------------51 6.1.3 Anthropometry (Index Children) ---------------------------------- ------------------------------------------53 6.1.4 Stunting (Index Children) --------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------53 6.1.5 Wasting (Index Children) --------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------55 6.1.6 Underweight (Index Children) -------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------55 6.1.7 Education of Mothers and its Effect on Stunting, Wasting and Underweight Status ------------56 6.1.8 Anthropometry (All Children) -------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------57 6.1.9 Stunting (All Children <5) -------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------58 6.1.10 Wasting (All Children <5) ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------58 6.1.11 Underweight (All Children <5) ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------58 6.1.12 National Trends in Malnutrition (All Children) ---------------- ------------------------------------------59 6.1.13 Provincial Trends in Malnutrition (All Children) – Pakistan ------------------------------------------59 6.1.14 Regional Trends in Malnutrition (All Children) – SAARC Countries Comparison -----------------60 Section 2: Biochemical Analysis of index children ------------------ ------------------------------------------61 6.2.1: Hemoglobin Level - Index Child ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------62

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6.2.2: Ferritin Level - Index Child ------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------63 6.2.3: Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) - Index Child --------------------- ------------------------------------------64 6.2.4: Vitamin A Deficiency - Index Child ------------------------------- ------------------------------------------65 6.2.5: Zinc Deficiency - Index Child ---------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------66 6.2.6: Vitamin D Deficiency - Index Child -------------------------------- ------------------------------------------67 6.2.7: Urinary Iodine - 6-12 years Children ------------------------------ ------------------------------------------67 Section 3: Child Immunization: -------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------70 Section 4: Morbidity Trends in Children: ------------------------------- ------------------------------------------73 6.4.1: Prevalence of ARI------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------73 6.4.2: Prevalence of Diarrhea: ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------73 CHAPTER 7: INFANT AND YOUNG CHILD FEEDING PRACTICES --- ------------------------------------------76 CHAPTER 8: FOOD INTAKE & PRACTICES ------------------------------- ------------------------------------------80 Section 1: Food consumption in Children 0-23 months of age: -- ------------------------------------------80 Section 2: Food consumption in Mothers of Index Child: ---------- ------------------------------------------84 CHAPTER 9: ELDER PERSONS HEALTH STATUS ------------------------ ------------------------------------------89 CHAPTER 10: QUALITATIVE COMPONENT OF NNS 2011 ----------- ------------------------------------------93 Motherhood -------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------93 Children’s Need, Pre-lacteal Feeding and Breastfeeding ------------ ------------------------------------------93 Introduction of Complementary Feeding -------------------------------- ------------------------------------------94 Breastfeeding and Complementary Food Duration ------------------- ------------------------------------------94 Perception regarding Health and Illness (Mother and Child) ------- ------------------------------------------95 Differences in Dietary Intake between Girls and Adult women Intra HH Food Distribution -----------96 Common Perception and Physiological Effects of “Hot”/“Cold” Food --------------------------------------97 Purchasing Practices – Local versus Imported Food ----------------- ------------------------------------------97 Purchasing Practices – Foods and Affordability ------------------------ ------------------------------------------97 Food Safety – Thawing and Food Storage ------------------------------- ------------------------------------------98 Violence against Women --------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------98 Chapter 11: WHAT NEXT? -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------99 Chapter 12: REFERENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY --------------------------- ------------------------------------------104

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List of Tables Table 2.1: No of enumeration blocks and villages -------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 2.2: Description of Blood and Urine Specimen Collected---- ------------------------------------------ Table 2.4: A detail distribution of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions ------------------- Table 2.5: Description of Biochemical Analysis/Tests ---------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 2.6: Pre-implementation Steps------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 2.7: Details of Training Agenda ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------ Table 3.1: Details of Sample Size and Achievement ------------------ ------------------------------------------ Table 5.1: Did you seek any one for antenatal care during your last pregnancy ------------------------- Table 5.11: Vitamin A Deficiency – pregnant and Non Pregnant Mothers -------------------------------- Table 5.12 Zinc Deficiency In mothers of Index Child: ---------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 5.14: Vitamin D Deficiency – Pregnant and Non Pregnant Mothers --------------------------------- Table 5.2 Knowledge about Micronutrients ---------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 5.3 Salt Test Results --------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 6.1 haemoglobin levels Index child ------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 6.10: Vaccinations by source of information ------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 6.11: Pakistan and Regional Immunization Trends by Source of Information -------------------- Table 6.2 comparison of hemoglobin levels --------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 6.3 Ferritin deficiency level- Index Child ------------------------ ------------------------------------------ Table 6.4 Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) - Index Child ----------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 6.5 Vitamin A Deficiency - Index Child --------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 6.6 Zinc Deficiency - Index Child ----------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 6.7 Vitamin D Deficiency - Index Child --------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 6.8 Urinary Iodine - 6-12 years Children ------------------------ ------------------------------------------ Table 8.1: Share of Calories & Nutrients - Children (0-23 months) ------------------------------------------ Table 8.3: Consumption of Food Groups -------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 8.4: Share of Calories & Nutrients – Mothers ------------------ ------------------------------------------ Table 8.5: Comparison of Nutrient Intake with the RDA------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 8.6: Consumption of food groups --------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 9.1: Morbidities in Elderly person --------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table 9.2: Body Mass Index of Elderly person -------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table: 5.10 Iron Deficiency Anemia --------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table: 5.13 Calcium Deficiency --------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table: 5.4 Clinical Examinations (Mother of Index Child) ------------ ------------------------------------------ Table: 5.6 Comparison of night blindness ------------------------------ ------------------------------------------ Table: 5.7 Hemoglobin Levels Non Pregnant mother ---------------- ------------------------------------------ Table: 5.8 Hemoglobin Level Pregnant mothers: ---------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table: 5.9 Ferritin Levels of mothers of index child ------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table: 6.9 Clinical Examinations (Index Child) -------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Table: 8.2: Comparison of Nutrient Intake with the RDA ------------ ------------------------------------------

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List of Figures Fig: 3.1 Population density -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig: 3.2 National Nutrition Survey coverage ---------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig: 3.3 Formal schooling of head of household ---------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 3.4 Type of walls ---------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 3.5 Type of Roof ----------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 3.6 Type of Floor --------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 3.7 source of fuel for cooking ----------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 3.8 source of drinking water at national level -------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 3.9 Source of drinking water at provincial level ------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 4.1 Food insecurity status ---------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 5.1 components of care during ANC visits ------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 5.10 Maternal Anemia (Mothers - Non Pregnant ----------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 5.11 Maternal Anemia (Mothers – Pregnant----------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 5.12 Comparison of Ferritin Levels ----------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 5.13 Comparison of VAD among mothers ------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 5.14 Zinc deficiency ------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------ Fig 5.2 Supplementation during the Last Pregnancy ----------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 5.3 Knowledge and reported use of iodized salt ------------------ ------------------------------------------ Fig 5.4 Clinical Examination among Mothers -------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 5.5 BMI for all WRA------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 5.6 BMI of Mothers (Non Pregnant)---------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 5.7consequences of vitamin a and mineral deficiencies ------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 5.8 Urinary Iodine Excretion ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 5.9 Night Blindness in Women----------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.1 Household with Children Under 5 Years ----------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.10 Under Weight (Index child) – Provinces ---------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.11 Under Weight (Index child) – by age group ----------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.12 Mother's Education and its Effect on Children's Stunting, Wasting and Underweight ------ Fig 6.13 Prevalence of Malnutrition in Pakistan (All Children <5) ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.14 Stunting Rates (All Under 5) – National ----------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.15 Wasting Rates (All Under 5) – National ----------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.16 Underweight (All Children <5) National----------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.17 Malnutrition National Trends (All Children) ----------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.18 Provincial Trends of Stunting, Wasting and Underweight (All Children -5) --------------------- Fig 6.19 SAARC Countries National Stunting Trends ------------------ ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.2 Age Distribution of Index Children - National ---------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.20 SAARC Countries National Wasting Trends ------------------ ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.21 SAARC Countries National Underweight Trends ------------ ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.22 Comparison of Anemia- Index child --------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.23 Comparison of Iron/Ferritin Level - Index Child ------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.24 Comparison of Iron Deficiency Anemia - Index Child ------ ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.25 Comparison between NNS 2011 and 2001------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.26 Comparison of Zinc deficiency Index child ------------------ ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.27 Comparison of Iodine deficiency Index children ------------ ------------------------------------------

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Fig 6.28 Availability of Vaccination Card --------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.29 Provincial Trend: Pentavalent Dose Rate --------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.3 Provincial Distribution by Age Group (Index Children) ----- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.30 Provincial Trends for Availability of Vaccination Card ----- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.31 Current ARI Status (Index Child) -------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.32 Prevalence of Diarrhea -------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.33 Worm Infestation among children ---------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.4 Prevalence of Malnutrition (Index Children) ------------------ ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.5 Stunting Rates (Index Child) – National ------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.5a Stunting Rates (Index Child) – Provinces---------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.6 Stunting rates (Index child) age group wise ------------------ ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.7 Wasting Rates (Index child) – Provinces ------------------------ ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.8 Wasting Rates (Index child) – National ------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 6.9 Under Weight (Index child) – National ------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 7.1: Initiation of breastfeeding within one hour ------------------ ------------------------------------------ Fig 7.2: Exclusive Breast Feeding ------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------ Fig 7.3: Introduction of Semi solid food ---------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 7.4: Minimum Dietary Diversity (6-23 months) ------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 7.5: Minimum Meal Frequency (6-23 months) -------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 7.6: Minimum acceptable diet (6-23 months) --------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 7.7: Age appropriate Breastfeeding (0-23 months) -------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 9.1: Age distribution of Elderly Person: ----------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 9.3: Loss of Appetite Elderly person --------------------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig 9.4: Weight loss in Elderly person (by recall) ---------------------- ------------------------------------------ Fig: 9.2: Gender distribution of Elderly person ------------------------ ------------------------------------------

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Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 PAKISTAN – An Introduction

The nation of Pakistan is 63 years old and the population has surged from a 34 million in 1947 in the western wing to an estimated population exceeding 180 in 2011(1). Maternal and Child health and survival remain major challenges. Pakistan is a signatory to the Millen-nium declaration and a declared intent to reduce maternal and child mortality. In addition to smoldering decades old conflict in neighboring Afghanistan, a debilitating in-surgency in the North and growing militancy in Southern Punjab and Balochistan, Pakistan has faced a spate of recent disasters. The earthquake in 2005 left over 75,000 dead with massive infrastructure damage (2) and the recent unprecedented floods in 2010 also af-fected close to 20 million people, displacing almost 8 million in its wake (3). The unprece-dented torrential rains in Sindh broke the last 60 years record and left 3 million people homeless and 2 million with food starvation affected the country thus faces the triple chal-lenge of political fragility, complex security issues and natural disasters. The security situa-tion in large parts of the country is fragile affecting the policy environment and distribution of key primary care programs. The relatively recent economic downturn has also affected overall purchasing power and household level food security. Other than the limited popula-tion based surveys undertaken following the recent floods in 2010, little systematic informa-tion is available on trends of maternal and childhood nutrition status over the last decade. Given the critically important contribution of social determinants especially nutrition, to health and development outcomes, this is a key policy relevant information gap. 1.2 Malnutrition among Women and Children in Pakistan – Background

Directly or indirectly the concurrent vicious life cycle of malnutrition contributes to almost 35% of all under-5 deaths in the country consequently affecting the future health and socio-economic development and productive potential of the society. Over the past 20 years there has been little change in the prevalence of malnutrition in the population despite more food availability and an overall increase in caloric intake per capita. This may be re-lated to the cross sectorial and complex nature of malnutrition which also include issues re-lated to poverty and those that impact intra-household food security and contemporary so-cio-cultural factors determining dietary patterns in pregnancy and early childhood. Although the problem of malnutrition has been never good throughout the history but the current situation is alarming because we did not make any significant progress in reducing malnutrition since many years. In Sindh alone, while the emergency standard is 15 percent the southern part of Sindh has reached 21 – 23 percent – the worst condition of malnutri-


tion in the world over the years. The purchasing power of people is decreasing day by day. In Pakistan, large family size forced to expense 46 percent of the family income on food while food expenditures in India are 35 percent and the US 7 percent (Times Magazine March 2011, What We Spend in a Month by Stephen Gandel). 1.3 Review of Literature – Background and Magnitude of the Problem

Under-nutrition is one of the modifiable threats to global health and child survival especially in poor and under developed settings due to its interaction with infections. There are cer-tain solutions available but they require political will, economic advancement and research to attain the results (6). Under-nutrition is a recognized health problem in Pakistan and plays a substantial role in the country’s elevated child morbidity and mortality. Global estimates suggest that there are more than 150 million malnourished children under the age of 5 years. It is also well recognized that close to 35 percent of the estimated 9.2 million deaths among children under-five is associated with under nutrition (7). Studies sug-gest that malnutrition exerts a multiplicative effect on the risk of mortality from infectious diseases (8). Like other major health issues malnutrition is widely prevalent in South Asian Region where half of the world’s malnourished children are to be found in just 3 countries Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. South Asia is the worst affected region and presents an “Asian Enigma” due to high rates of low birth weight (LBW), unhygienic conditions, unsatis-factory breastfeeding and weaning practices and the poor status of women (9). The prevalence of underweight is very high in South Asian Region and between a quarter to a third of all newborns are born low birth weight and over half of women of reproductive age weigh less than 45 kg (10). It is recognized that malnourished women have a significant higher risk of giving birth to low birth weight infants. Moreover low birth weight infants are at a higher risk of morbidity and mortality in the neonatal period or later infancy (11). Fur-thermore LBW infants who survive are often poorly breast-fed and weaned, resulting in stunted, malnourished children and when grown up are less productive in society, thus add-ing to poverty and unemployment in the country. Not only this, LBW female infants develop into malnourished mothers who in turn produce LBW babies in a vicious cycle. Stunting is used as a reliable indicator of growth retardation in developing countries. The stunting rates in Pakistan have fallen from 47 percent in 1980 to 33percent in 2000 (12). De-spite a reduction in overall prevalence, child malnutrition remains a major public health problem in developing countries, where a third of all children under five are stunted; 70 percent of them live in South Asia (13, 14). Factors associated with reduction in childhood stunting include availability of high-energy nutrients, female literacy and rise in gross na-tional product (15). It can be stated that these very factors or lack of interventions are the reason of widespread malnutrition affecting children as well as young girls and women (16).


In comparison with other neighboring countries of South Asia (except Sri Lanka), the mater-nal and child health and nutrition situation Pakistan is a cause of much concern (17). Al-though the prevalence of stunting in Pakistan declined from 67 percent in 1977 to an esti-mated 40-50 percent by then end of the 1990s (18), subsequent progress has been very slow. According to the national health survey (1990-94), the prevalence of stunting among the urban middle to lower economic groups was approximately 30-36 percent and as high as 35-45 percent in the same economic group in the rural areas (19). The national survey catego-rized economic status on the basis of material possessions and facilities owned by the household but with different criteria for urban and rural households. Pakistan’s urban-rural difference may partially be explained by the relatively higher level of education among the urban population as well as their facilitated access to basic health services (20). Available evidence for under nutrition signifies that growth faltering in majority of such children begins at around four to six months of age, this is the time when an infant starts receiving complementary foods in addition to breast milk (21). This divergence from normal growth is actually a combination of poor nutrition and intra-uterine growth restriction (22), further aggravated by the burden of morbidity especially diarrheal diseases (23). Poor quality and quantity of complementary foods, as well as inadequate caring practices are the key determinants for this early phase of childhood growth retardation (24), which has long-term consequences in determining the late onset of the childhood growth spurt and subsequent retardation (25). The process of growth faltering is essentially a series of events throughout childhood. The child suffers from repeated illnesses, inadequate appetite, deficient food and poor standard care. Many such children face premature mortality before their first birthday and those who do survive carry long-term consequences such as week stature and challenged mental capacity (26). 1.4 Need for Nutrition Survey

Nutrition surveys are useful tools that provide estimate of the severity and geographical ex-tent of the problem and possibly the groups most affected or at risk. The surveys also as-sess the likely evolution and impact of the problem on health and nutritional status, taking into account secondary information, including food security and food distributions. They al-so identify the need for nutrition interventions and the most effective measures to prevent or minimize the problem. Through such surveys the governments can determine the need to establish or expand existing surveillance, so that the effectiveness of measures taken can be monitored overtime. To assess the magnitude of the problem we also need to understand the population size and, if possible, the demographic characteristics of the population and distribution of cases therein. To understand the reasons for the problem of under nutrition and to plan and implement appropriate interventions and programs, the usual situation for that population, the evolu-


tion of the changes, and the context in which the situation has arisen each needs to be con-sidered. There are many sources of information that are relevant in understanding the con-text and potential responses that may be appropriate and effective. The effects of these fac-tors on livelihoods and the ability of the affected population to cope at a household level are frequently assessed using food security surveys. Additionally formal nutrition surveys remain the best way to estimate accurately prevalence of malnutrition. Records of cases of malnutrition at health centers or during screening cannot be considered sufficiently repre-sentative of the population. They do, however, provide an indication of trends in the num-ber of cases of malnutrition and opportunities for action. The last National Nutrition Survey was conducted in 2001-02, almost 15 years after the 1985-1987 National Nutrition Survey. After another lapse of almost a decade, the current survey was undertaken with specific aims of: Establishing the current benchmark of nutrition and related indicators for gauging

progress along the targets set for the Millennium Development Goals (MDG); Establishing a benchmark for missing data/indicators, especially as the recent DHS

survey (2007) did not include anthropometric indicators. To prioritize the programs/initiatives at the national and provincial level and refining

planning and implementation of initiatives on the basis of identified priorities.


Chapter 2: SURVEY DESIGN AND METHODS 2.1 Objectives The specific objectives of the NNS 2011 included the following targets

To assess the population nutritional status; especially of women and children To collect data on height, weight and age of children, 6 – 59 months, mothers of

these children, adolescent girls, adults and elderly. To collect blood samples for the assessment of micronutrient status of children

mainly iron Vitamin A, Zinc, Vitamin D, calcium, and iron status of mothers To collect urine samples for the assessment of iodine status of women of repro-

ductive ages and children To assess infant and young child feeding and care practices, including exclusive

breastfeeding and complementary feeding rate To collect data on food intake and food security To collect data on demographic, socio economic and cultural variables (Income,

education, etc.)

2.2 Indicators for National Nutrition Survey 2.2.1 Anthropometric Indicators

Stunting rates Wasting Rates

2.2.2 Clinical Indicators

Clinical prevalence of Anemia (Physical examination) Prevalence of Visible Goiter (Physical examination) Prevalence of worm infestation (History based) Co morbidities (Diarrhea, ARI and Pneumonia) Immunization status (history + Immunization cards) Micronutrient supplementation status

2.2.3 Core Biochemical Indicators

IDA among MWRA and WRA and children under five years Serum Vitamin A, D, Zinc and Calcium concentrations among mothers and child-

ren under five years of age Urinary Iodine deficiency among MWRA, WRA and children 6 to 12 years Alpha-1 Glycoprotein levels (acute phase reactant)


2.3 Survey Design A Cross-Sectional Survey Design was chosen to collect data to make inferences of a given population at one point in time. Cross-sectional surveys provide a snapshot of the preva-lence and attributes of problems or normalcy in specific target population. A cross-sectional survey is a descriptive survey in which disease and exposure status is measured simulta-neously along with to elucidate the information regarding households, physical examination, and anthropometry and biochemical indicators (27). 2.3.1 Universe

The universe consists of all urban and rural areas of all four provinces of Pakistan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Azad Jammu Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan defined as such by Population Census 1998, and the subsequent changes made by the provincial govern-ments periodically. The population of military restricted areas and cantonments has been excluded from the scope of this survey. The population of excluded areas constitutes less than 1% of the total population. 2.3.2 Sampling Frame

A. Urban Areas Federal Bureau of Statistics has developed its own sampling frame for all urban areas of the country. This frame is an area frame wherein each city/town has been divided into a num-ber of small compact areas called Enumeration Blocks (EBs).Each enumeration block con-sists of about 200 to 250 households with well-defined boundaries recorded on the pre-scribed forms and maps thereof with physical features.

There are important land marks indicated on the sketch map of the boundary of each block. Each enumeration block has also been classified into low, middle and high income groups keeping in view the majority of the households located in the enumeration block belonging to a particular income class. This information is useful to formulate sub-stratification. This sampling frame now comprises all urban areas of the Baluchistan except military restricted areas. There is a continuous process of updating in case of emerging newly built in apart-ments /houses or extension in the municipal limits of urban localities/towns/cities. The frame is regularly up-dated completely after every 5 to 7 years due to rapid growth in ci-ties/towns/urban areas. It was entirely updated during 2004. There are 26,753 enumeration blocks in all urban areas of the country B. Rural Areas The sampling frame for rural domain consists of list of mouzas/dehs/villages prepared by the Population Census Organization (PCO) as a result of Population Census conducted in 1998 in the country. A mouza/deh/village is the smallest revenue estate identified by its name, had-best number, cadastral map and name of Tehsil, District and Province in which it is located. The rural sampling frame, comprising 50,572 mouzas/dehs/villages, has been used for drawing the sample for this survey.


The detail of number of enumeration blocks in urban and numbers of mouzas/dehs/villages in rural areas of the country are given as under: Table 2.1: No of enumeration blocks and villages

Province Number of Enumeration Blocks Number of Villages

Islamabad 351 132 Punjab 14,549 25,875 Sindh 9,025 5,871 Khyber Pakhtoon Khawa(KPK) 1,936 7,334 Balochistan 618 6,555 Federally Admn. Tribal Areas(FATA) 0 2596 Azad Jammu Kashmir 210 1643 Gilgit-Baltistan 64 566 Total 26753 50572

2.3.3 Listing Activity Fresh listing of households has been undertaken in all sample areas. For this purpose, a comprehensive training to the listers has been imparted. In urban areas, enumeration blocks have been considered as Primary sampling units (PSUs). The sketch map of enumera-tion blocks demarcated by Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) in urban area of Baluchistan province has been used to perform listing work. In rural areas, villages as per Population Census 1998 have been treated as Primary sampling units (PSUs). Large sample villages hav-ing population more than 2000 as per Population Census 1998 have been split up into ham-lets/blocks of equal size. One block has been selected randomly for data collection. Small villages have completely been listed. The listing of households has been used to select a specified number of households from urban and rural sample areas. 2.3.4 Stratification

A. URBAN DOMAIN

i. Large Sized Cities Karachi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Sialkot, Sargodha, Bahawalpur,

Hyderabad, Sukkur, Peshawar, Quetta and Islamabad have been considered as large sized cities. Each of these cities constitutes a separate stratum which has been further sub-stratified according to low, middle, high income groups based on the information collected in respect of each enumeration block at the time of demarcation/up-dating of urban area sampling frame.

ii. Remaining Urban Areas

After excluding the population of large sized cities from the population of respective administrative division, the remaining urban population of each administrative division of four provinces has been grouped together to form a stratum called other urban areas. Thus each adm. division in remaining urban areas in the four provinces constitutes a stratum. In Azad Jammu &Kashmir, FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan, all urban areas have been grouped to-gether within each region/state separately.


B. Rural Domain

In rural domain, each administrative district in the Punjab, Sindh and KPK Provinces has been considered, as independent and explicit stratum, whereas in Balochistan province each ad-ministrative division constitutes a stratum. In Azad Jammu &Kashmir, FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan, all rural areas have been grouped together to form stratum within each re-gion/state separately.

2.3.5 Sample Size and its Allocation Considering the variability of characteristics for which estimates are prepared, population distribution, and field resources available, a sample size of 30, 0000 sample households has been considered appropriate to provide reliable estimates of key characteristics at the de-sired level. An exercise to compute sample size based on the prevalence rate of three key variables namely wasting and stunting in children less than five years , mother iron deficien-cy and mother iron deficiency anemia was undertaken keeping in view 95% level of 5% margin of error . Further, 5% non-response rate was also considered. The design effect of 1.6 was used to finalize and fix overall sample size. The entire sample of 30,000 households (SSUs) has been fixed comprising 1500 Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) out of which 618 were urban and 882 were rural. As urban population was more heterogeneous therefore, a high-er proportion of sample size was allocated to urban domain. Similarly NWFP and Balochistan being the smaller province and to get reliable estimates, a higher proportion of sample was assigned to these provinces. After fixing the sample size at provincial level, further distribu-tion of sample PSUs to different strata in rural and urban domains in each province has been made proportionately. The distribution of PSUs and SSUs enumerated in the urban and rural domain of the prov-inces, states/regions are as under: Table 2.2 Sample Size and Allocation Plan Province/Region

Number of sample PSUs Number of sample SSUs Total Urban Rural Total Urban Rural

Punjab* 682 307 375 13640 6140 7500 Sindh 323 157 166 6460 3140 3320 KPK 218 67 151 4360 1340 3020 Blochistan 110 44 66 2200 880 1320 FATA 67 0 67 1340 0 1340 AJK 66 28 38 1320 560 760 GB. 34 15 19 680 300 380 Total 1500 618 882 30,000 12,360 17640 * Including Islamabad 2.3.6 Sample selection procedure a) Selection of Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) Enumeration blocks in urban domain and mouzas/dehs/villages in rural domain have been taken as primary sampling units (PSUs). In the urban domain, sample PSUs from each ulti-mate stratum/sub-stratum have been selected with probability proportional to size (PPS)


method of sampling scheme. In urban domain, the number of households in enumeration block Economic Census 2004 and population of 1998 Census for each village/mouza/deh have been considered as measure of size.

b) Selection of Secondary Sampling Units (SSUs)

Households within sample PSUs have been taken as secondary sampling units (SSUs). A specified number of households i.e. 20 from each urban sample each urban and rural sample PSU have been selected with equal probability using systematic sampling technique with a random start.

2.3.7 Target Population

Women of reproductive ages (15-49 years), Children 6-59 months and Elderly (> 50 years)

2.3.8 Survey Methods

A method mix of quantitative and qualitative methods was adopted. A comparison of both methods is given in the following Table 2.1. Table 2.3: A comparison of quantitative and qualitative methods (28) Components Qualitative Research Quantitative Research Focus of research Quality (nature, essence) Quantity (how much, how many) Philosophical roots Phenomenology, symbolic interaction Positivism, logical empiricism Associated phrases Fieldwork, ethnographic, naturalistic,

grounded, subjective Experimental, empirical, statistical

Goal of investigation Understanding, description, discovery, hy-pothesis generating

Prediction, control, description, confirmation, hypothesis testing

Design characteristics Flexible, evolving, emergent Predetermined, structured Setting Natural, familiar Unfamiliar, artificial Sample Small, non-random, theoretical Large, random, representative Data collection Researcher as primary instrument, inter-

views, observations

Inanimate instruments (scales, tests, surveys, questionnaires, computers)

Mode of analysis Inductive (by researcher) Deductive (by statistical methods) Findings Comprehensive, holistic, expansive Precise, narrow, reductionist

2.3.9 Description of Questionnaire (Quantitative)

A structured questionnaire was used to obtain the data. The questionnaire was developed using standard components from previous and recent surveys done nationally and interna-tionally. All data collection tools were assessed in-depth by the technical committee estab-lished to oversee the NNS 2011. Three iterations of the survey instrument were reviewed and the final version approved in December 2010. In the Section 1 of Module “A”, all members of household were listed by their gender, age, education, occupation and marital status. Besides such information, anthropometry (Height,


weight, mid-upper arm circumference – MUAC and physical examination for anemia, jaun-dice, cyanosis, edema and goiter was conducted for whom were present at the time of sur-vey. Data were recorded against the name of each member. Section 2 of Module “A” was exclusively designed for obtaining socio-economic data along with health and hygiene cha-racteristics. Knowledge, attitudes and practices about micronutrients (Iron, iodine, and vi-tamins A, B, C and D) were recorded in the Module “B” while Module “C” was focused on reproductive history, intra-birth interval, antenatal care, night blindness, worm infestation, iron supplementation and morbidities. In same Module “C” 24-hour dietary recall to assess dietary intake and food practices to determine patterns of eating habits and variety of foods consumed over a longer period of time of MWRA/WRA were also assessed. Standard infant and young child feeding (IYCF) Module “D” was used to capture data on birth, newborn weight; resuscitation, breastfeeding initiation and exclusively breastfeeding, complementary feeding, micronutrients, 24-hour dietary recall and food practices for the youngest child were obtained. A separate Module “E” was developed to determine the health status, immunization, physical examination and lab investigation of the index child. Elderly persons’ appetite, movement and mobility and morbidities were also asked through the Module “F”. Poverty assessment and food security Module “G” was also filled-in. 2.3.10 Description of qualitative research

The overall aim was to identify food consumption patterns, nutrition and food behavior and to gain insight into the factors affecting decision-making. These factors include, the connec-tion between diet, disease and health, beliefs about certain foods, dietary practices, food intake patterns, consumption of local versus imported foods, and other factors relating to food choices. The main objectives were: To gain insight into the knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and practices relating to nutri-

tion, food behaviors and consumption among the population To aid the understanding of cultural factors which may be the determinants regard-

ing the types of foods eaten, preparation methods used and when, where and how such foods are served in the family

To explore the contextual determinants of Maternal and Child under nutrition in dif-ferent ethnic groups


2.3.11 Qualitative research sample and target population

In qualitative research, purpo-sive sampling is the dominant strategy and purposive sam-ple size is often determined on the basis of theoretical satu-ration (FHI, 2005). A total 40 focus group dis-cussions and 16 in-depth inter-views were con-ducted.

Participants were identified and selected through the community recruiters at their living-sites. A detail distribution of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions by target population is given below: Table 2.4: A detail distribution of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions

Targeted Study areas

Focus Group Discussions In-depth Interviews Participants Respondents

Mothers [Child < 5]

Decision makers in the family LHWs Total Gynecologist Child Specialist Total Male Female

Lasbella 1 1 1 1 04 1 1 02 Peshawar 1 1 1 1 04 1 1 02 Haripur 1 - - 1 02 - - - Muzaffarabad 1 1 1 1 04 1 1 02 Sukkur 1 1 1 1 04 - - - Larkana 1 1 1 1 04 1 1 02 Bahawalpur 1 1 1 1 04 1 1 02 Lahore 1 1 1 1 04 1 1 02 Jhelum 1 - - 1 02 - - - Gilgit 1 1 1 1 04 1 1 02 Karachi 1 1 1 1 04 1 1 02

Total 11 09 09 11 40 08 08 16

2.3.12 Tools for qualitative data collection

The semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus group discussions guidelines were devel-oped and translated into local languages for the FGDs and IDIs. The guidelines were based on pre-defined themes that included motherhood (establish emotional pulls), necessities of


children, child feeding decision, initiation and duration of breastfeeding, pre-lacteal feeding, pre-natal and post-natal care for women (diet), complementary feeding, psychological care of children, perceptions related to health and illness, perception about nutrition and food intake, local/imported food, buying behavior, behavior change, eating patterns and food preparations, dietary practice, food poverty (choice and preferences), food safety, intra-household food distribution, and violence against women. 2.3.13 Transcription and translation of qualitative data

All the data were transcribed and translated directly from native language into English. The validity of the translations and transcripts was checked through back translation of sample sections. 2.3.14 Biochemical Analysis For the important and essential biochemical evaluation assessment of micronutrient defi-ciencies in children 6 months to 5 years of age and the mother of index child and in 6 -12 years children were also assessed for urinary iodine. Details of the biochemical test are shown in Table 2.2 whereas technical details of the methods involved provided in Annex XV. Table 2.5: Description of Biochemical Analysis/Tests Biochemical Test Children 6 month to 5 years Children 6 – 12 years WRA / MWRA Alpha-1 Glycoprotein Yes Yes Vitamin A Yes Yes Vitamin D Yes Yes Zinc Yes Yes Calcium Yes Yes Hemoglobin Yes Ferritin Yes Yes Urinary Iodine Yes Yes Yes 2.3.15 PROJECT PRE-IMPLEMENTATION STEPS

Before the start of the NNS the following steps were assured: Table 2.6: Pre-implementation Steps Formation of Technical Committee Technical Committee has been notified with representatives from the relevant

stake holders to oversee technical aspects of the NNS 2011. Liaison with the Local Partners Liaison with partners such as

•Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) •Ministry of Health (MoH) & Provincial Health Departments •Pakistan Medical and Research Council (PMRC) – Data Collection in KPK & FATA

Development of Survey Manual A detailed Manual of Operations for Survey procedures was developed. This en-compasses Qualitative and Quantitative data collection strategies, Anthropometry guidelines, Sample collection and transportation guidelines and data management strategies.

Development of Consent Forms and Survey Instruments

The relevant consent forms and instruments were developed. The instruments have different modules relevant to study participants.

ERC application submission Ethical review application was submitted to both National Bioethics and AKU ethics committees for approval of survey methodology and consent forms.

Acquisition of Sample Frame and Design from FBS Close working with the FBS for the development of research design and sampling


frame. A sample size of 30,000 HH and 1500 Enumeration Blocks was proposed and agreed.

Establishment of Survey Hubs Punjab = 8 (Average 85 EBs per one Hub), Sindh=5 (65), KPK&FATA=5 (57), Balochistan=5 (22) , AJK=3 (22) and Gilgit Baltistan=2 (17)

Survey hubs were established for the operational movement of field teams. These hubs were established at Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur, for Sindh Prov-ince, RY Khan, Multan, DG Khan, Bhawalpur, Sahiwal, Faisalabad, Lahore and Ra-walpindi for Punjab, Abbottabad, Peshawar, Swat, D I Khan, Kohat for KPK & FATA, Muzaffarabad, Bagh and Mirpur for AJK, Gilgit and Skardu for Gilgit-Baltistan, Ga-wadar, Khuzdar, Bella, Quetta, Dalbandin and Jaffarabad for Balochistan.

2.3.16 Identification and Recruitment of Field Staff

Advertisements (In-house and in the National Dailies) were placed and candidates were shortlisted and interviewed at Karachi, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Quetta. 2.3.17 Survey Teams

Initially 15 Survey Teams were established and more teams inducted as the survey pro-gressed to keep the momentum and to meet the time target. At one point in time 22 Teams were operating in the different parts of the country. Each team was consists of 1 Field Su-pervisor, 1 Team Leader, 4-5 Data Collectors, 3 Registered Nurses with 1 phlebotomist where needed, 2 Logistic Assistants and 2 Community Facilitators. Separate teams consist of Moderators/Facilitators; Observers, Note-Takers and Community Recruiters were also es-tablished. A. Staff Profile National Survey Coordinator, Senior Survey Coordinator and Survey Coordinators were se-nior medical doctor and lead social scientists with years of experience in nutrition related surveys nationally and internationally. Team Supervisors were highly experienced not less than a decade and mix blend of medical and social science background. Similarly, expe-rienced Team Leaders, all females having Masters in Social Sciences with suitable experience were deployed with the view to easy access into the households to ensure the quality and validity of data. All Data Collectors were at least Graduates supported by Logistics Assistants and Local Community Facilitators. B. Separate Teams for Mapping and Listing Separate teams consist of FBS representative and Logistic Assistant supported by local community facilitators visited each EB / village prior to data collection for demarcation of EB/village as per FBS maps, listing of all structures and households, allotted a unique ID (NNS 1, 2, 3 for structures and HH1, 2, 3 for households), basic data on children <5, house-hold head, women of reproductive age, elder person above 50 years, etc. were obtained. From the listed HHs of each EB, 20 HHs were randomly selected through a computerized program in Excel.


2.3.18 Training

Training sessions and refreshers were conducted in Karachi, Faisalabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Abbottabad, Quetta and Gawadar. Four days extensive classroom training was imparted to the teams by the senior and experienced staff of the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health; Aga Khan University who have prior experience of similar surveys. Some of the de-tails of training agenda are shown in Table 2.6. Table 2.7: Details of Training Agenda

For All Team Leaders Data Collectors Nurses Phlebotomists Introduction to NNS Research design Survey metho-dology

Community rapport build-ing Counselling techniques Research basics Interviewing techniques Dress code Consent procedures Interpersonal skills Ensuring high response Sampling methodology Question by question ex-planation Mock interviews Operational procedures Field procedures Daily documentation Log sheet completion Dealing with refusals Spot checking Random checking Desk editing

Community rapport building Research basics Interviewing tech-niques Dress code Consent procedures Interpersonal skills Ensuring high re-sponse Sampling methodol-ogy Question by ques-tion explanation Mock interviews Operational proce-dures Field procedures Daily documenta-tion Log sheet comple-tion

Physical examination Anthropometry Field practice Urine sampling

Blood sampling Safe injection practices Safe injection practices Labeling and sto-rage Transportation of samples Field practice

2.3.19 Coding Scheme for Assigning Processing Codes

A 9- digit coding scheme for providing processing codes to primary sampling units i.e. enu-meration blocks/villages (PSUs) and secondary sampling units’ i.e. households (SSUs) se-lected in was developed. 2.3.20 Plan of Operation, Training and Monitoring

Project planning was critical to the development of detailed field work plans, assessment of the timelines and progress, resources and performance schedules during the execution of the project. Effective tools were developed for periodic checking of works progress against the targets laid down in order to ensure timely completion of the NNS project. We were one step forward from the conventional approaches of monitoring; therefore be-sides internal monitoring we also engaged project stakeholders, especially Nutrition


Wing, Ministry of Health Government of Pakistan, proactively in assessing the progress of the project activities and achievement of their anticipated targets. Details about Plan of Operation and how it was implemented is placed at Annex. 2.3.21 Data Management, Transfer and Analysis Plan

Data management team (Data Analyst, Data Supervisor and Data Entry Operators) worked under the supervision of Data Manager. The filled-in questionnaires first desk-edited in the field sites for completeness and major errors if any by the Team Leaders. After desk editing all such questionnaires were sent through courier to the Data Management Unit (DMU) Aga Khan University Karachi where a desk was exclusively established to receive the NNS filled-in questionnaires and make an inventory register. Before the data entry, all filled-in question-naires were coded for open-ended responses. In case of inconsistency or missing responses, the editor flagged the errors/omissions and consulted the Research Supervisor interviewers for clarification.

Data Entry Plan

a. Software for Data Entry and Analysis Visual Fox Pro was used for designing the databases, data entry software and procedures for data quality assurance. Data entry screens were employed range and consistency checks and skipped to minimize entry of erroneous data. Special arrangements were made to en-force referential integrity of the database so that all data tables are related to each other without problem. Analysis of data was done through SPSS version 16.

Tabulation plan for Quantitative data

Transcription of Qualitative data

Qualitative data analysis

Translation and typing of Qualitative data

Quantitative data entry

Template designing for Data entry

Preliminary Statistical tables

Conceptualization of Key issues

Draft Report

Analysis, interpretation and triangulation of results


b. Software for Anthropometric Analysis There are many software are available for anthropometric analysis like Software for Calcu-lating Pediatric Anthropometry v 1.02, 1999, WHO Anthro (version 3.2.2, January 2011), ENA for SMART - Software for Emergency Nutrition Assessment, People Size 2008, RAPIL – ANTHROPOMETRIC SOFTWARE, NutriStat: Nutritional Anthropometry Program. For the NNS 2011, WHO Anthro (version 3.2.2, January 2011) was used for anthropometric analysis. However for day to day monitoring and anthropometric data consistency check the ENA- SMART software was used which helped a lot to address the errors in measurement at the initial stages of the data collection.

c. Data Entry and Quality Checks Two pass verification or double data entry was carried out for each filled-in questionnaire to ensure data entry quality due to any systematic error or operator misread entries from the questionnaire. Data entry was started after one week of data collection following clearance by the Research Supervisors and requisite data quality assurance. The error checks were performed simultaneously with the data entry. 2.3.23 Ethical approval and Confidentiality

The project design, sampling strategy and analytical plan were reviewed by the Ethics Re-view Committee of the Aga Khan University as well as the National Research Ethics Commit-tee of the Government of Pakistan and duly approved. Confidentiality of all data collected was of highest priority during all stages of data handling. All the names and personal infor-mation regarding any individual were kept confidential and data sets anonymous for analy-sis. Only senior staff has had access to the data. Participant privacy and confidentiality in electronic and printed data, publications, and reports will be ensured. All the data files have been protected by passwords and serum and blood samples duly secured as per standard procedures.


Results of the National Nutrition Survey 2011


Chapter 3: BACKGROUND AND HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS 3.1 Completion of Data Collection

The required sample size for data collection was 30000 households, of which a total of, 27963 household were visited and interviews conducted successfully by the field teams. A verbal consent was obtained from participating households prior to the interview for col-lecting information through a pre formed for questionnaire, and for anthropometric mea-surements. However for blood draws, urine samples collection and clinical examination a written consent was sought by survey teams. 6.8 percent of the targeted population refused to participate in the survey. The refusal rate varied widely between regions; being lowest in AJK 1.3 percent and highest in FATA 32.8 percent possibly related to the prevalent insurgen-cy, security issues and accessibility constraints. NNS 2011 coverage and population density map for comparison of sample distribution and population conglomeration is given below: Fig: 3.1 Population density Fig: 3.2 National nutrition Survey coverage

Sample size and achievement by provinces and regions are given below: Table 3.1: Details of Sample Size and Achievement

Number of PSUs and SSUs by Province / Region – Household Interviews Completed Province / Region PSUs Household (HH) Interviews

Target Completed HH Visited

Consent Refused HH Completed

Refusal Rate (%)

Balochistan 110 110 2200 204 1996 9.3 Khyber Pakhtunkhaw 218 218 4360 734 3626 16.2 FATA 67 67 1340 440 900 32.8 Sindh 323 323 6460 178 6282 2.8 Punjab 682 682 13640 452 13188 3.3 AJK 66 66 1320 17 1303 1.3 Gilgit/Baltistan 34 34 680 12 668 1.8 All Pakistan 1500 1500 30000 2037 27963 6.8


3.1.1 Blood and Urine Specimen

The Survey teams collected 2000 blood specimen for biochemical assessments from mother and their children. Table 3.2: Description of Blood and Urine Specimen Collected

Specimen Punjab Sindh KPK Balochistan FATA AJK Gilgit Total

Blood Mother 6110 2892 1061 980 38 798 403 12282 Child 6099 2892 1046 867 34 798 403 12139

Total 12209 5784 2107 1847 72 1596 806 24421

Urine Mother 742 330 213 53 23 65 34 1460 Child 749 326 207 53 23 65 34 1457

Total 1491 656 420 106 46 130 68 2917

3.2 Background and Household Characteristics

The percentage distribution of male: female was almost similar i.e. 50.4%: 49.6 % respec-tively across urban and rural population of Pakistan .The gender break-up differed from the last census conducted in 1998 that documented a sex ratio of 108.5 and the current survey revealed 101.6. The data from FATA showed significant gender imbalance, 123.2 males for every 100 female. But in AJK, it was 95.7 male per 100 female. The average household size was 6.7 ± 3 similar to the 1998 census. 3.3 Formal Education – Head of Household

In the NNS 2001, 37.9 percent of the households’ heads were illiterate across Pakistan, but NNS 2011 revealed an increase in illiteracy rate with 45.7 % household heads being illiterate

Figure 3.3 Formal schooling of head of household


3.4 Occupation – Head of Household

The NNS 2011 Pakistan showed 53.6 percent of the household heads were la-bors/workers/farmers of which 35.9% belonged to urban and 61.6% to rural population re-spectively. In comparison to the previous findings of NNS 2001-02, 16.6 percent household heads belonged to labor/worker/farmer groups. Government and private service employees were the next major group of employment, 16.4 percent were engaged with either public or private sector. The proportion of unemployed heads of households showed figures that had apparently doubled since last than 2001, In NNS 2001 where the percentage was merely 6%. 3.5 Nature of Dwelling by Type of Floor, Roof and Walls

A large proportion of people living in urban and rural areas were found to be deprived of basic civic necessities. The facilities available also differed significantly between urban and rural areas. In NNS 2011, we documented 64.2 percent families were residing in houses that were constructed with bricks and concreted with cement and; this did not differ from NNS 2001-02 findings where 62.3 %t had cemented walls. 20.7 % families possessed houses structure where walls were made with bricks only. In ur-ban area 86.9 %t houses were made of bricks, almost similar as was in the NNS 2001 (84.7 percent). The ratio of houses with brick walls in rural area was 48.7 percent (NNS 2001) and 25.6 (NNS 2011) that showed an improvement in rural housing. Fig 3.4 Type of walls

The results showed that 19.6 percent of the houses comprised of RCC roofs followed by the 19.9 percent of houses have roof made of wood planks across Pakistan.


Fig 3.5 Type of Roof

In the NNS 2001 the use of tiles for flooring was negligible whereas in the NNS 2011 the use of tiles was 9.8 percent and use of other material was on decline from 12.2 percent (NNS 2001) to 3.4 percent (NNS 2011). In urban areas majority of houses 64.7% had cemented flooring. This was almost double to those of rural areas where only 37.5 percent houses had cemented flooring. The comparison with NNS 2001 is given in the following figure: Fig 3.6 Type of Floor


3.6 Type of Cooking Fuel Used

Over the last decade consumption of fire wood has decreased. At the time of NNS 2011, around 58 percent of the households in Pakistan were still using firewood as the prime source of cooking fuel while the use of firewood was reported to be 66.7 % in the NNS 2001. The usage of firewood was more than three times greater in rural area as compared to ur-ban areas (77.4 &: 15.5%)respectively. Natural gas was found to be the second main source of cooking fuel as 39.7% household were using natural gas for cooking food.. This facility was found to be more conveniently available in the urban areas where 83.3% were utilizing gas. Furthermore the use of animal dung as fuel was observed to be reduced significantly in all parts of Pakistan; only 5.2 per-cent were using d animal dung in NNS 2011 while in NNS 2001 it was reported to be 14.6 percent. The use of kerosene oil was also reduced substantially; 4 % to 0.2 %. Fig 3.7 source of fuel for cooking

3.7 Source of Drinking Water

The basic necessity of piped drinking water was accessible to half of the households (50.4%), depicting an improvement since last NNS in 2001 where 41% of the households reported access to tap water. This facility was largely available to the urban population (62.8 %).. Tube-well /boring water was the second most common source of the drinking water (31%). Its utilization was predictably more in rural areas (37.1%) vs. urban (22.3%).


Fig 3.8 source of drinking water at national level

Fig 3.9 Source of drinking water at provincial level


Chapter 4: FOOD INSECURITY IN PAKISTAN

It has been estimated that over 900 million people experience the hardship that hunger im-poses, a figure which continues to rise even amidst the riches of the 21st century. As world food prices scale new peaks, food insecurity and famine once again dominate humanitarian headlines, barely few years since the last crisis. Engulfed within a vortex of population growth, economic instability and climate change, food security presents a formidable chal-lenge for national and global governance.

Food insecurity has become one of the major national problems in Pakistan. The report pro-duced by United Nations in 2008 revealed that high food prices have significantly worsened food security in Pakistan. In 2008, 72 million people (51 percent of the population) were food insecure and consumed less than 2,100 kcal per day. Since 2005-06 the food insecure population has increased by 12 million. The number of severely food insecure (consuming less than 1,700 kcal per day) has risen by 9.6 million to 45.3 million people (28 percent of the population). Two thirds of these new severely food insecure people live in rural areas (29).The poorest of the poor have been disproportionately affected by the crisis. Simulation analysis has shown that the poorest quintile spend 13 percent higher on food than two years ago, whereas the richest quintile’s food expenditure increased by only 5 percent (29).

The floods of 2010 in Pakistan have caused widespread destruction, ruined livelihoods, dis-placed millions, and sparked a food crisis. Food prices have skyrocketed across the country as miles of farmland succumb to the deluge. Food insecurity is now rife across the country yet even before the floods; millions of Pakistanis struggled to access food. Back in 2008, the UN estimated that 77 million Pakistanis were hungry and 45 million malnourished. And while many developing nations have begun to recover from the global food crisis of 2007-08, Pakistan’s food fortunes have remained miserable. Throughout 2010, Pakistan’s two chief food staples, rice and wheat, have cost 30 to 50 percent times more than they did be-fore the global food crisis. Drought, rampant water shortages, and conflict have intensified food insecurity in Pakistan in recent months.

There is no straightforward, universally accepted definition of food security. Most versions stipulate secure access to sufficient and affordable nutritious food. . “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (31, 32)” It is recognized that the full range of food insecurity and hunger cannot be captured by any single indicator Instead, a household’s level of food insecurity or hunger must be deter-mined by obtaining information on a variety of specific conditions, experiences, and beha-viors that serve as indicators of the varying degrees of severity of the condition. While de-veloping the module and data collection following were considered

Anxiety that the household food budget or food supply may be insufficient to meet basic needs


The experience of running out of food, without money to obtain more; Perceptions by the respondent that the food eaten by household members was in-

adequate in quality or quantity; Adjustments to normal food use, substituting fewer and cheaper foods than usual; Instances of reduced food intake by adults in the household, or consequences of re-

duced intake such as the physical sensation of hunger or loss of weight; and Instances of reduced food intake or consequences of reduced intake, for children in

the household. Following steps were followed to analyze the food security data considering the Guide to Measuring Household food security as standard (30).

1. Converting the survey responses collected using the core-module questionnaire into the data set needed for applying the measurement model

2. Applying the model to the data to determine the food security status level of each household;

3. Determining, for those households that show evidence of food-insecurity/hunger, the severity level of the condition experienced

In NNS 2011 the household food security has been determined on the basis of four catego-ries that are defined below 1. Food secure: Households show no or minimal evidence of food insecurity. 2. Food insecure without hunger Food insecurity is evident in household members’ concerns about adequacy of the house-hold food supply and in adjustments to household food management, including reduced quality of food and increased unusual coping patterns. Little or no reduction in members’ food intake is reported 3. Food insecure with hunger (moderate) Food intake for adults in the household has been reduced to an extent that implies that adults have repeatedly experienced the physical sensation of hunger. In most (but not all) food-insecure households with children, such reductions are not observed at this stage for children. 4. Food insecure with hunger (severe) At this level, all households with children have reduced the children’s food intake to an ex-tent indicating that the children have experienced hunger. For some other households with children, this already has occurred at an earlier stage of severity. Adults in households with and without children have repeatedly experienced more extensive reductions in food in-take. The results revealed that at National level about 42% of the households are food secure while the remaining 58% are food insecure, the food insecurity data was further disaggre-


gated and it was found that out of 58% that were food insecure 28.4% were food insecure without hunger, 19.8% were food insecure with Moderate hunger and 9.8% were food inse-cure with severe hunger. There is a division between the urban and rural areas, in urban areas about 48% are food secure while 52% are food insecure compared with rural areas where 39.4% of Households are food secure and 60.6% are food insecure. In urban areas of those households that were food insecure 26.5% of them were food insecure without hun-ger, 17.7% were food insecure with moderate hunger and 8.2% were food insecure with se-vere hunger. In rural areas out of those households that were food insecure 28.3% were food insecure without hunger, 20.7% were food insecure with moderate hunger and 10.5% were food insecure with severe hunger. The data suggested that the households in rural areas are more food insecure when compared with the urban areas. We further investigated the data on provincial basis and it was revealed that there is a clear variance among the provinces for the food security data. Following is the disaggregated data on the provincial basis Punjab: Punjab is the biggest province of Pakistan; the survey revealed that about 40.5% of the households are food secure while 59.5% are food insecure of those that were food insecure 32.2 % were food insecure without hunger, 18.5 % were food insecure with moderate hun-ger and 8.8% were food insecure with severe hunger Sindh: Sindh appeared as the poorest and food deprived province as only 28% households were food secure and the rest 72% households were found to be food insecure of these 72%, 21.1% are were food insecure without hunger, 33.8% were food insecure with moderate hunger and 16.8% were food insecure with severe hunger. Khyber Pakhtunkhwah (KPK): KPK appeared relatively better off with 68.5 % populations reporting affordability and acces-sibility of all kinds of food in all seasons and only 28.2 % were food insecure and out of those that were food 21 % were food insecure without hunger, 6 % were food insecure with mod-erate hunger and 4.5 % were food insecure with severe hunger. Baluchistan: After Sindh, Baluchistan was found to be affected more by food insecurity and it was re-vealed that about 36.5% were food secure and 63.5% were food insecure. Of those that were food insecure about 33.9% were food insecure without hunger, 18% were food inse-cure with moderate hunger and 11.5% were food insecure with severe hunger. FATA: Food security data from FATA revealed that about 41.6 % are food secure and 58.4 % are food insecure. In FATA of those households that were food insecure about 27.4% were food insecure without hunger, 8.4% are food insecure with moderate hunger and 5.8% were food insecure with severe hunger. Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK):


In AJK about 42.9% were food secure and 57.1 % are food insecure, among those house-holds that were food insecure it was revealed that 31.2% were food insecure without hun-ger, 21.6% were food insecure with moderate hunger and 4.3% were food insecure without severe hunger. Gilgit Baltistan (GB): Food security data from GB showed that about 60.2% of the households were food secure and 39.8% were food insecure, the data revealed that about 9.2% of households were food insecure without hunger, 21.5% were food insecure with moderate hunger and 8.9% were food insecure with severe hunger. The food security data of the presented survey has shown no signs of improvement since the last food insecurity assessment done by the United Nations in Pakistan which revealed about 51% of the sampled population was food insecure. The NNS 2011 brought up the fig-ure of 58% of the households being food insecure; this figure does not portray any good sign on the nutrition status of the Pakistani population and have consequent implications on the nutrition, growth and health of the population. Fig 4.1 Food insecurity status


Chapter 5: MATERNAL HEALTH AND NUTRITION

During the National Nutrition Survey 2011 detailed data was collected on basic characteris-tics, dietary intake, reproductive history, anthropometry, clinical and Biochemical micronu-trient deficiencies and KAP regarding micronutrients from the mothers of the Index child. Index child in the survey has been defined as the “selected youngest child of less than five years of age”

Section 1: Basic Data: Age, Education and Marital status (Mother of Index Child) 5.1.1 Age Distribution of Index Mothers The survey revealed that about 71.7% of index mothers were between 20-34 years of age, among all index mothers that were interviewed about 32.3 % were of 25-29 years of age and ; 26.2 % were of 30-34 years of age. The data revealed no major urban and rural differ-ence as 34 % of the index mothers of 25-29 were residing in urban areas and 31.6 percent in rural area similarly in age group of 30-34 years, 27.3 percent were residing in urban areas and 25.7 percent in rural area. (Table 5.1). 5.1.2 Formal Education Female literacy in Pakistan has been a challenge since decades; results of the NNS 2011 showed that 59.5 % of index mothers were illiterate. The percentage of illiterate mothers was almost twice in rural area than urban (36.3 % in urban and 68.7 % in rural). From the total only 10.4 % mothers completed their 10 years of schooling and 8.7 percent managed to complete their studies beyond grade 10. Data from the survey further revealed that about 11.2 percent mothers from the rural area received education up to 10th grade whe-reas this level of education in urban areas was more than three times i.e. 38.9 percent (Ta-ble 5.2). 5.1.3 Marital Status and Current Pregnancy Status (Mother of index child) Only 0.8 percent mothers of index child were either separated or widowed (Urban 1.3 per-cent - rural 0.6 percent), rest of them were currently living with their husbands. Current pregnancy status of the index mothers was also ascertained and it was revealed that 10.6 % index mothers were pregnant, with no major urban and rural difference. Section 2: Reproductive History and Antenatal Care 5.2.1 Reproductive History (Mother of Index Child) Reproductive history of pregnancies that were conceived during the last five years was also ascertained. The number of pregnancies was grouped as 1-2, 3-5 and 6 and plus pregnancies in last five years duration. It was found that about 30% had 1-2 pregnancies, 47.4% had 3-5 pregnancies and 22.3 % had 6 and plus pregnancies. The data did not find any major differ-


ence in the number of pregnancies between urban and rural areas but provincial variations were observed. Trends among other provinces and regions are given in the Table 5.1. Further the data regarding the outcome of the last pregnancy was also collected and the survey revealed that 95 % of pregnancies resulted in live births, where as 4.4% and 0.4% ended as Miscarriage and still birth respectively. 5.2.2 Antenatal Care 1. ANC- during Last Pregnancy Seeking Antenatal care during pregnancy is of great importance as it identifies risk factors which reduce the chances of later maternal complications and also minimize the chances of miscarriages and stillbirths. Unfortunately there has been no improvement in seeking ANC since 2006-07. The PDHS 2006-07 data showed that 65.3 % pregnant women sought care during pregnancy while NNS 2011 results showed that 63.5 % of pregnant women sought ANC during their last pregnancy. The data revealed a clear difference of ANC seeking pattern between urban and rural areas as this proportion is much higher among urban women 83.8% compared to rural women 55.5% respectively. The data for the Antenatal care seek-ing was also collected on provincial basis; it was revealed that from the women who sought care during ANC about 69.2% were from Punjab, 62.8% were from Sindh, 55.1% were from KPK, 48 % were from Baluchistan, 27.7% were from FATA, 80.8% were from AJK and 80.1% were from Gilgit. The scenario in FATA was depressing where only 28 % pregnant women seek ANC because of one or the other reason. Mothers of index children in AJK and Gilgit were much aware about the importance of ANC. 2. Choice of Care Provider The selection of qualified and skilled health care provider ensures better care during preg-nancy. In Pakistan, little improvement has been made in seeking care from the skilled care provider. In 2006-07 (PDHS) 60.9 percent pregnant women received care from a qualified and skilled care provider whereas the Nutrition survey showed that among mothers of index child about 67.8 % received ANC from a skilled provider; of those who sought care from skilled provider about 62.3% received care from a doctor, 11.9 % from a Nurse, and 3.6 per-cent from LHV. The gap for seeking ANC has also narrowed down; in 2006-07 (PDHS) urban-rural gap was 24.6 percent (Urban 78.1 percent and rural 53.5 percent) while currently it is only 7 percent (Urban 82.2 % and rural 75.2 %). In provincial comparison(Table 5.581.2% from Punjab, 71.3% from Sindh, 77% from KPK, 66.7% from Baluchistan, 76.3% from FATA, 78.6% from AJK and 86.8% from Gilgit sought care from skilled birth attendants. 3. ANC Visits Early pregnancy care which should be continued till delivery minimizes the chances of com-plications at the onset of delivery and also ensures the good health of pregnant women throughout pregnancy duration that’s why WHO recommended at least 4 ANC visits under the normal situation. Data from NNS 2011 showed that a total of 49.6% women had 4 or


more ANC visits. 67.8% were from urban areas and 38.6% were from rural areas. When pro-vincial variance was assessed it was found that in Punjab 49.9%, Sindh 56.9%, KPK 42%, Ba-luchistan 34.1%, FATA 56.7%, AJK 40.7% and Gilgit 39.8% women had 4 or more ANC vists. Table 5.1: Did you seek any one for antenatal care during your last pregnancy

Total

Residence Province / Region

Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Baloc- histan

FATA AJK Gilgit

ANC Yes 63.5 83.8 55.5 69.2 62.8 55.1 48.0 27.7 80.8 80.1 No 36.2 16.1 44.2 30.7 37.2 44.3 51.7 69.9 19.2 19.9 Don't know 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.6 0.3 2.4

N 20188 7788 12400 8981 4373 2434 1636 868 1263 633 Care provider Gynecologist 62.3 74.4 55.0 62.1 67.9 56.2 58.5 47.6 62.0 66.6 Nurse 11.9 5.6 15.7 17.8 2.9 1.6 5.3 12.8 15.5 14.2 CHW 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.4 1.8 0.4 3.3 0.2 0.5 LHW 1.9 1.2 2.3 1.4 0.7 4.9 3.8 11.1 0.9 3.0 LHV 3.6 2.2 4.5 1.3 0.5 19.2 2.9 15.9 1.1 6.0 TBA 2.2 1.8 2.5 2.1 1.9 2.1 6.0 8.5 0.3

Others 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.2 N 13112 6290 6822 6408 2722 1391 784 227 1053 527 #of ANC Visits

1 14.3 7.4 18.4 16.5 10.0 10.0 22.2 4.8 15.4 20.3 2 18.4 11.1 22.8 17.5 17.6 21.4 26.1 18.6 20.0 14.6 3 17.5 13.4 20.0 15.9 15.3 26.4 17.4 17.9 23.5 25.0 >3 49.6 67.8 38.6 49.9 56.9 42.0 34.1 56.7 40.7 39.8 Don't know 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.1 1.9 0.3 0.3

N 13115 6294 6821 6428 2717 1388 788 213 1053 528

4. Components of Care during ANC Visits The NNS 2011 also assessed the components of care provided during the ANC visit. The provision of care during ANC varied greatly depending upon the interest of care provid-er and facilities at her health facility and also on condition and demand of the clients. Since 2006-07 (PDHS) some improvement has been made in the provision of care components. The major components that were carried out during the ANC were weight measurements, Blood pressure measurements, urine test, blood test and ultrasound. It was found that about 51% of women were weighed, 72.2% women had their Blood pressure measured, 53.4% had their urine tested, 51.2% had their blood tested and 82% had their ultrasound done. The utilization of Ultrasound examination has markedly improved since the last PDHS which showed 65.9% of women had their ultrasounds done during their ANC of which 74.4% were from urban areas and 60.6% were from rural areas. The NNS 2011 revealed that 82.1%


of women had their ultrasound done during their ANC of which 85.2% from urban areas and 80.3% were from rural areas. The following Figure shows the other results: Fig 5.1 components of care during ANC visits

Fig 5.2 Supplementation during the Last Pregnancy

Data on the micronutrient supplementation during the last pregnancy was also collected during the survey. It was revealed that about 26.7% of pregnant women were consuming Iron, folate, 37.8% from urban areas and 22.3% from rural areas, a total of 27.5 % were consuming folic acid, 40.2% from urban areas and 22.5% from rural areas, 4.3 % women were consuming micronu-trients out of which 3.9 were form urban areas and 4.4% were from rural areas, a total of 39.2% were consuming calcium, 54.7 % from urban areas and 33% from rural areas and about 9.8% women were using other vitamins, 16.1% from urban areas and 7.2% from rural areas. The details of the nu-trition supplements consumed during pregnancy are illustrated in above figure 5.2.


Section 3: Knowledge of micronutrients and vitamin rich foods 5.3.1 Knowledge of Micronutrient Micronutrient deficiencies still remain important public health problems in Pakistan. During survey, to obtain information of micronutrient knowledge, respondents were asked simple and straight questions “Have you ever heard (Micronutrient)?” “Their impact on health if deficient” and “Which foods contain micronutrients?”.

Table 5.2 Knowledge about Micronutrients Regions Iron Zinc Vitamin A Vitamin D Vitamin B Iodine Pakistan 24.8 6.1 24.0 20.8 19.3 42.8 Urban 42.0 12.8 41.6 38.0 34.4 61.6 Rural 17.0 3.1 16.0 13.0 12.5 34.2 Punjab 29.8 6.6 28.6 24.3 23.2 47.8 Sindh 23.6 7.5 23.5 22.5 19.2 38.4 KPK 13.9 4.2 12.5 9.9 9.7 41.3 Balochistan 8.6 2.8 10.6 6.4 5.8 17.3 FATA 9.5 0.9 7.5 3.8 3.6 17.3 AJK 40.8 9.7 44.5 41.6 40.1 59.1 Gilgit 22.7 4.5 28.8 16.7 15.6 37.1 1-Knowledge about Iron: The findings of present survey found that mothers had very low knowledge about Iron in Pakistan. Overall, only 25 percent of the mothers had knowledge about iron. The percen-tage of awareness about iron was higher (42%) in urban areas than in rural areas (17%). Ba-lochistan (8.6%), FATA (9.5%) and KPK (14%) had poor knowledge of iron in comparison to other provinces. 2-Knowledge about Zinc: Overall, only 6 percent of the mothers had knowledge about Zinc, while this knowledge was higher in urban areas (13%) than in rural areas (3%). The pattern of poor knowledge about Zinc was almost similar across all provinces but FATA (0.9%) had least knowledge of zinc. 3-Knowledge about vitamin A: Only 24 percent mothers were aware about Vitamin A in Pakistan, while this awareness was higher (41.6%) in urban areas that in rural area (16%). FATA (7.5%), Balochistan (10.6%) and KPK (12.5%) had lesser knowledge of vitamin A. 4-Knowledge about vitamin D: Around 21 percent of the mothers were aware about vitamin D, while this knowledge was higher (38%) in urban areas than in rural areas (13%). FATA (3.8%), Balochistan (6.4%) and KPK (10%) had poor knowledge of vitamin D in comparison to other provinces.


5-Knowledge about vitamin B Complex: Only 19 percent of the mothers were aware about vitamin B complex, while knowledge was higher (34%) in urban areas that in rural areas (12.5%). Again FATA (3.6%), Balochistan (5.8%) and KPK (9.7%) had poor knowledge of vitamin B complex in comparison to other provinces. Punjab had highest (23.2%) knowledge of vitamin B complex within all provinces of Pakistan. 6-Knowledge about iodine: Overall, 42.8 percent mothers in Pakistan had knowledge about iodine, while level of awareness was higher (61.6%) in urban areas than in rural areas (34.2%). FATA and AJK (17%) each had less knowledge about iodine in comparison to other provinces. 3.3.2-Knowledge of Vitamin Rich Foods Vitamins are essential nutrients that contribute to a healthy life. Although many people get all the vitamins they need from the foods they eat yet hundreds of people still do not corre-late them with specific vitamin. The pregnant women are considered to be a nutritionally vulnerable segment of the popula-tion due to enhanced need of nutrition during pregnancy for fetus growth. The marginal nu-trient intake increases the risk of nutritional deficiencies in pregnancy.. Recent research con-firmed the higher prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency along with some other micronu-trient deficiencies among the pregnant women. In the NNS 2011 the efforts were aimed at investigating dietary pattern, nutrient intake and nutritional status of MWRAs with a particular focus on the knowledge of micronutrients and vitamins and appropriate knowledge about vitamin rich foods and micronutrient deficien-cy’s impact on health. 1-Iron Rich Foods: Across Pakistan 24.8 percent mothers who have heard about iron, around half of them did not know which foods contain iron. However 36.5 percent said green leafy vegetables, 20 percent mentioned meat and rest told about miscellaneous food preparations which may or may not iron rich. Highest knowledge about iron rich foods were noted in province Sindh (69%) and urban Pakistan (65%); and lowest in FATA (25%) and AJK (35%). Around 80 per-cent mothers were not aware about health problems may occur due to iron deficiency in FATA and 76 percent in AJK. 2-Zinc Rich Foods: Unfortunately 73 percent mothers did not know about foods which contain Zinc across Pa-kistan. Only 7 percent mentioned meat and meat products while 2.3 percent mentioned about water melon seeds. Knowledge about Zinc rich foods was greater in KPK and FATA


(64% & 52%) respectively; and lower in AJK (10%) & Punjab (22%). 90 percent mothers were not aware about the health problems due to Zinc deficiency in AJK and 84 percent in Punjab. 3-Iodine Rich Foods: Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDDs) is affecting almost half of Pakistan population. The na-tional IDD Control Program launched in 1994. One major goal of the program was iodization of salt and its promotion. NNS 2011 survey finding revealed that 67 percent respondents mentioned that iodized salt is the major source of iodine however very limited (2.4%) awareness about other iodine rich food like fish/sea food. Around 76 percent mothers were not aware about the problems due to iodine deficiency in FATA, 70 percent in Sindh, 68 per-cent in rural Pakistan and 65 percent in AJK. 4-Vitamin A Rich Food: 58 percent mothers in Pakistan did not know which vitamin A rich foods, similarly (78%) in FATA, (72%) in AJK, and (63%) in Punjab were also not aware. While 20.5 percent mentioned fruits and 17 percent mentioned green leafy vegetables across Pakistan. 5-Vitamin D Rich Foods: Majority of mothers 64.4 percent did not know about Vitamin D rich foods in Pakistan, while this percentage was higher (70%) in rural areas than in urban areas (60%). Only 4.8 percent mentioned egg, 9.3 percent meat and liver, 3.7 percent also said sun light as source. AJK (74%), Punjab (70.8%), and FATA (64.6%) did not know about vitamin D rich foods. 6-Vitamin B complex Rich Foods: 70 percent of the mothers were not aware about the vitamin B complex rich foods in Pakis-tan with 73.4% in rural areas and 66.5% in urban areas. Around 13 percent and 12 percent mentioned fruits and green leafy vegetables respectively. Across provinces, AJK (80%), Pun-jab (75%), and Sindh (65.8%) did not know about vitamin B complex rich foods. 5.3.3 Knowledge about iodized salt and its usage: Overall, 64 percent mothers were aware of iodized salt, whereas knowledge of iodized salt was higher (83%) in urban areas than in rural areas (55%). The respondents from AJK (82%), Gilgit (79%) and Punjab (71.4%) had excellent awareness but respondents in FATA (29.8%) & Balochistan (29.3%) were comparatively least aware about iodized salt.

The reported use of iodized salt for cooking was (39.8%) across Pakistan. A considerable provincial/regional variation was found as Gilgit (95%), AJK (71.6%); and FATA (14 %) and Punjab (36%). The reported use of iodized salt was higher (46.5%) in urban areas that in ru-ral areas (35.2%).


Fig 5.3 Knowledge and reported use of iodized salt

Table 5.3 Salt Test Results Areas 0 PPM 15 PPM 25 PPM 50 PPM Pakistan 30.9 13.4 17.6 38.2 Urban 27.6 12.3 16.3 43.9 Rural 32.4 13.9 18.1 35.5 Punjab 21.2 11.6 19.0 48.2 Sindh 48.2 14.0 11.8 26.0 KPK 36.4 19.0 24.4 20.2 Balochistan 59.2 15.2 9.2 16.5 FATA 44.9 29.2 15.6 10.4 AJK 12.1 14.9 22.6 50.4 Gilgit 15.1 14.8 16.5 53.5

Rapid iodized salt test kits were used in survey to assess the iodine content in the salt used in the household. The kit tests salt with drops of stabilized starch based solution, which causes chemical reaction manifested by color change. The salt sample was taken in a tea-spoon, and after shaking the reagent (test solution) bottle well, a drop of the test solution was poured on the salt. The salt will turn light blue to dark violet depending on the iodine content of the salt. To assess the iodine content, the color of the salt is compared with chart (0, 15, 25, 50 parts per million, ppm). The cut-off proportion of 15 PPM and above was con-sidered as adequately iodized salt using the WHO/UNICEF reference indicators for monitor-ing of iodized salt.

According to the test, the proportion of households using actual iodized salt in Pakistan was (69%), while the actual use of iodized salt was higher (72%) in urban areas than in rural areas (68%). Highest actual use of iodized salt was observed in AJK (88%), Gilgit (85%); and lowest in Balochistan (41%) and Sindh (52%) in comparison to other provinces.


5.3.4 Consequences of Micronutrient deficiencies Majority of respondents was unaware about the potential causes of illness and effects on health in general and on young children and pregnant women in particular might come-up due to the micronutrient deficiency. 1-Iron Deficiency: 60.7 percent mothers told that they know nothing what iron deficiency can cause. Those who known said that iron deficiency cause anemia (26.4 percent), lethar-gy/irritability (7.4 percent) and weakness (4.4 percent). 2-Zinc Deficiency: 78.9 percent mothers were totally unaware. Growth retardation men-tioned by 7.5 percent mothers, diarrhea 5 percent and skin ulcer 5.5 percent. Zinc deficiency may lead to impaired cognitive function, behavioral problems, impaired memory, learning disability were not known to any mother. 3-Iodine Deficiency: Although knowledge of mothers about iodine (Mainly due to the iodized salt) was the highest among all micronutrients still 63.7 percent did not know its ef-fects on health in case of deficient. Goiter was mentioned by 26 percent mothers and en-demic mental retardation by 7.6 percent. 4-Vitamin A Deficiency: Vitamin A deficiency is a public health problem in Pakistan hitting hardest young children and pregnant women. In Pakistan, 78.1 percent mothers were not aware of consequences of vitamin A deficiency. Only 7.2 percent mentioned night blind-ness. No other major effects like pre-term delivery and pregnancy-induced hypertension was not mentioned by any mother.

5-Vitamin D Deficiency: Rickets and slow bone development was mentioned by 13.3 per-cent women. Other major health concerns like risk of pre-eclampsia and affect immune function were not mentioned. 6-Vitamin B₁₂ Deficiency: Vitamin B12 deficiency can potentially cause severe and irreversi-ble damage, especially to the brain and nervous system. At levels only slightly lower than normal, a range of symptoms such as fatigue, depression and poor memory may be expe-rienced however only 9.2 mothers mentioned anemia while 79.1 percent did not it’s defi-ciency effects. Section 4: Clinical Examination (Mothers of Index Child)

During the NNS 2011 clinical examination of the mothers of Index children was also per-formed. This examination was done by trained nurses. This is the direct assessment of mi-cronutrient malnutrition and depends upon the clinical signs and symptom. The mothers were examined for Anemia, Edema, Jaundice, Goiter and Bitot’s spot, each of these sign and symptom represents a micronutrient deficiency.


The survey revealed that overall 26.1% of the mothers were anemic of which 20.7% were from urban and 28.3% were from rural. The prevalence of clinical anemia among the prov-inces was found to be 28.2% in Punjab, 34.2% in Sindh, 11% in KPK, 19.1% in Baluchistan, 10.3% in FATA, 36.1% in AJK and 16.3% in Gilgit. The prevalence for edema was 1.3% (1.5% urban and 1.2% rural) with no significant variance among provinces except for Gilgit where it was 4%. Bitot’s spot was found in 0.4% of the mothers with no urban and rural variance. When it was assessed on provincial basis it was found that Baluchistan and FATA had the highest percentages that were 2.4% and 4% respectively. (Table 5.4) Table : 5.4 Clinical Examination (Mother of Index Child)

Pakis-tan

Residence Province / Region Ur-ban

Ru-ral

Punjab Sindh KPK Balo- chistan

FATA AJK Gilgit

Anemia / Pallor 26.1 20.7 28.3 28.2 34.2 11 19.1 10.3 36.1 16.3 Edema 1.3 1.5 1.2 1.7 0.6 0.8 1.7 1.6 1.6 4 Jaundice 1.4 1 1.6 1.6 1.5 0.7 1.2 0.4 1.8 0.1 Goiter 2.9 1.9 3.3 4.1 1.3 1.2 1.0 0.7 9.8 1.3 Bitot’s spot 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.3 2.4 4 0 0.3

The prevalence of clinical anemia in NNS 2001 was 48.7 percent (46.4 percent in urban and 50 percent in rural) that has been reduced to 26.2 percent (20.8 percent in urban and 28.3 percent in rural). Similar trends were found for edema, jaundice, goiter visible, cyanosis and bitot’s spot. Fig 5.4 Clinical Examination among Mothers

Section 5: Anthropometry Anthropometry is the hallmark technique of biological anthropology, and has become in-creasingly important in health assessments across this century. “There are two possible ways to assess the adequacy of food and nutrition and to detect the presence of inadequacy in food intake among individuals or population groups: the first measures nutritional intake and the second assess nutritional status. The second option assesses the nutritional status


of the individual or a representative sample of individuals within a population by measuring anthropometric, biochemical or physiological (functional) characteristics to determine whether the individual is well-nourished or undernourished (UNICEF, 1998 The state of the world's children 1998. Oxford, Oxford University Press)”. During the NNS 2011 Anthropometry was also done by the trained nurses for all available women of reproductive age group. Measurements for weight, height and MUAC were taken and consequently Body Mass Indices were also calculated. The BMI was divided into four categories namely underweight having BMI of <16 to 18.49, Normal having BMI of 18.5 to 24.99, over weight having BMI of 25 to 29.99 and obese having BMI of >30. The data revealed that a total of 18% of WRA had low BMI and were under weight of which 14.4 % were from urban areas and 19.7 % from rural areas. About 53.2% had Normal BMI of which 46% were from urban areas and 56.6% from rural areas. It was also found that 19.3% of total WRA were overweight of which 23.9% were from Urban and 17.1% from rural re-spectively. The data also revealed information about the obese person and it was found that 9.5% of the WRA were obese out of which 15.7 belonged to urban areas and 6.5% belonged to rural areas. Fig 5.5 BMI for all WRA

1- Body Mass Index – Non Pregnant Mothers In the NNS 2011 we also analyzed the BMI data on the Non pregnant mothers and com-pared this with the previous NNS 2001. The data revealed that the 54.4% of non-pregnant mothers in 2011 had Normal BMI compared to 52.9% in 2001. About 15.1% were under-weight in 2011 compared to 12.5% in 2001 and 21.1% were overweight in 2011 compared to 21.8% in 2001. A total of 9.5% are found to be obese in 2011 compared to 12.8% in 2001.


Fig 5.6 BMI of Mothers (Non Pregnant

Section 6: Micronutrient Deficiency

Micronutrient deficiency is a major global health problem. More than 2 billion people in the world today are estimated to be deficient in key vitamins and minerals, particularly vitamin A, iodine, iron and zinc. Most of these people live in low income countries and are typically deficient in more than one micronutrient. Deficiencies occur when people do not have access to micronutrient-rich foods such as fruit, vegetables, animal products and fortified foods, usually because they are too expensive to buy or are locally unavailable. Micronu-trient deficiencies increase the general risk of infectious illness and of dying from diarrhea, measles, malaria and pneumonia. These conditions are among the 10 leading causes of dis-ease in the world today (The World Health Report 2001: Reducing risks, promoting healthy life. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2001). Although the micronutrient deficiency affects throughout lifecycle since the pre-birth how-ever the groups most vulnerable to micronutrient deficiencies are pregnant women, lactat-ing women and young children, mainly because they have a relatively greater need for vita-mins and minerals and are more susceptible to the harmful consequences of deficiencies. For a pregnant woman these include a greater risk of dying during childbirth, or of giving birth to an underweight or mentally-impaired baby. For a lactating mother, her micronu-trient status determines the health and development of her breast-fed infant, especially during the first 6 months of life. For a young child, micronutrient deficiencies increase the risk of dying due to infectious disease and contribute to impaired physical and mental de-velopment (Preventing and controlling micronutrient deficiencies in populations affected by an emergency, Joint statement by the World Health Organization, the World Food Program and the United Nations Children’s Fund, WHO 2007).


Fig 5.7consequences of vitamin a and mineral deficiencies

1-Urinary Iodine Excretion of Mother of Index Child Urinary Iodine Excretion Is the Most Appropriate Outcome Indicator for Iodine Deficiency at Field Conditions. In NNS 2011 urine samples from the mothers of index children were col-lected to assess the urinary iodine excretion. The data revealed that about 52.3% women (Urban 43.7% and rural 56.9%) had normal urinary iodine excretions. Whereas 29.2% wom-en (Urban 32.7% and rural 27.4%) had mild deficiency of iodine excretion in urine, 14.6% women, (urban 19.4% and rural 12.0%) had moderate deficiency of iodine excretion in urine. However 3.9% women (Urban 4.2% and rural 3.8) had severe deficiency of iodine in urine. While comparing the women who had normal iodine excretion in urine on provincial basis it was found that KPK province had the highest percentage 76.1% followed by Sindh 51.5%, Punjab 49.8%, Baluchistan 31.8%, AJK 18.3%, and Gilgit 24.4%. Further, with regard to overall percentage of women having severe deficiency of iodine excretion in urine, Gilgit had the highest percentage 15%, followed by Sindh 6.3%, AJK is at third with 5.9%, and Ba-luchistan and KPK have 4.6% and 1.5% respectively. When the data of NNS 2011 was compared with that of 2001 it was found that iodine defi-ciency rate had reduced during the last decade, it was found that in NNS 2011 about 52% were non deficient compared to NNS 2001 which revealed that only 23.7% were non defi-cient. Similar trends were found for the urban and rural areas.


Fig 5.8 Urinary Iodine Excretion in mothers

Median Urinary Iodine Excretion in mothers The median of urinary iodine excretion was also determined in mothers at it was revealed that the Median iodine excretion in mothers was 104.5ug/l, 94.6 ug/l in urban areas and 112.7 ug/l in rural areas. The provincial distribution of Median Urinary iodine excretion was 100 ug/l in Punjab, 101 ug/l in Sindh, 148.6 ug/l in KP, 85.3 ug/l in Balochistan, 204.6 ug/l in FATA, 64.9 ug/l in AJK and 63.8 ug/l in Gilgit Table: 5.5 Comparison of urinary iodine excretion in mothers

Pakistan Urban Rural NNS 2001 NNS 2011 NNS 2001 NNS 2011 NNS 2001 NNS 2011

Severe 36.7 3.9 27.3 4.2 41.5 3.8 Moderate 21.2 14.6 27.8 19.4 17.8 12 Mild 18.4 29.2 21.2 32.7 17 27.4 Non-deficient 23.7 52.3 23.7 43.7 23.7 56.9

2-Night Blindness of the Mother of Index Child (Last and Current Pregnancy) Reported prevalence of night blindness in the current and last pregnancy revealed that 13.3% women (Urban 12.4% and rural 13.6%) reported night blindness during their last pregnancy while 16.2% women (Urban 14.7% and rural 16.7%) reported night blindness dur-ing their current pregnancy. Among provinces of Pakistan, Sindh (22%) has the highest re-ported rates of night blindness during the last pregnancy followed by AJK, Baluchistan, Pun-jab, FATA, KP and Gilgit. Among those women who reported night blindness during their current pregnancy FATA (35.4%) had the highest rates followed by Sindh, AJK, Baluchistan, Punjab, KP and Gilgit.


Fig 5.9 Night Blindness in Women

The data of night blindness in NNS 2011 and NNS 2001 was also compared, it was found that night blindness rates have gone up as in NNS 2011 the rates during the last pregnancy were 13.3% compared to 7.8% in NNS 2001, similar trends were seen in urban and rural division. The night blindness rates during current pregnancy in 2011 were found to be 16.2% com-pared to 9.9% in NNS 2001 an increasing trend was observed in both urban and rural areas. Table: 5.6 Comparison of night blindness

Pakistan Urban Rural NNS 2001 NNS 2011 NNS 2001 NNS 2011 NNS 2001 NNS2011

Night Blindness % (Last Pregnancy) 7.8 13.3 7.5 12.4 8 13.6

Night Blindness % (Current Pregnancy) 9.9 16.2 9.4 14.7 10.1 16.7

Section 7: Biochemical Analysis: During the NNS 2011 blood samples were collected to assess the biochemical status of mi-cronutrients among mothers of the index child, the blood samples were analyzed for He-moglobin, Ferritin, Vitamin A, Zinc, calcium and vitamin D levels. Following are the results revealed from the analysis. 1-Hemoglobin Levels: Hemoglobin levels of both pregnant and non-pregnant women were checked and it was re-vealed that 50.5% of women that were non pregnant were hemoglobin deficient out of which 49.5% were from urban areas and 51% were from rural areas. When the data was compared for provinces it was found that 62.1% from Sindh province had hemoglobin defi-cient followed by Punjab 48.8%, Baluchistan 48.7%, FATA 45.5%, AJK 41.3%, KP 36.3% and


Gilgit 23.4%. Out of 50.5% of women that were not pregnant 48.9% had moderate hemog-lobin deficiency and 1.6% had severe hemoglobin deficiency. Table: 5.7 Hemoglobin Levels Non Pregnant mother

Pakistan

Residence Province / Region Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Baluchistan FATA AJK Gilgit

Severe deficiency (<7 gm/dL) 1.6 1.0 1.9 1.2 3.0 0.9 2.0 0.0 0.2 0.6

Moderate deficien-cy (7 - 11.99 gm/dL)

48.9 48.6 49.1 47.6 59.1 35.5 46.6 45.5 41.1 22.8

Normal (>= 12 gm/dL)

49.5 50.5 49.0 51.2 37.9 63.7 51.3 54.5 58.7 76.6

N 10793 4418 6375 5433 2469 793 891 151 719 337

The data for the pregnant women revealed that 51 % of women that were pregnant were hemoglobin deficient out of which 50.7 % were from urban areas and 51.4 % were from ru-ral areas. When the data was compared for provinces it was found that 60.2 % from Sindh province were hemoglobin deficient followed by Punjab 49.7 %, Baluchistan 48.1%, AJK 43 %, Gilgit 35% and KP 28.3 %. Out of 51 % of women that were pregnant 48.7% had mod-erate hemoglobin deficiency and 2.5 % had severe hemoglobin deficiency. Table: 5.8 Hemoglobin Level Pregnant mothers:

Pakistan

Residence Province / Region Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Baluchistan FATA AJK Gilgit

Severe deficiency (<7 gm/dL) 2.5 1.6 2.8 1.2 5.3 2 3 0 0 0


48.7 49.1 48.6 48.4 54.8 26.3 45.1 0 43 35

Normal (>= 12 gm/dL) 48.8 49.3 48.6 50.3 39.8 71.7 51.9 100 57 65

N 1363 496 867 730 397 66 65 3 77 25

We also compared the NNS 2011 data of hemoglobin deficiency with the data of NNS 2001 both for pregnant and non-pregnant mothers. It was found that situation of hemoglobin de-ficiency in non-pregnant women has become worse as in NNS 2001 about 72% women had normal hemoglobin levels which has now decreased to 49%. Similarly when the data was compared for the pregnant women about 60.9% had normal hemoglobin levels in 2001 which has now reached to 47.9%.


Fig 5.10 Maternal Anemia (Mothers - Non Pregnant

Fig 5.11 Maternal Anemia (Mothers - Pregnant

2-Ferritin Levels: Table: 5.9 Ferritin Levels of mothers of index child

Ferritin Level – Non- Pregnant Mothers

Pakistan Residence Province / Region

Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Baluchistan FATA AJK Gilgit Low Ferritin (<12 ng/dL) 26.8 27.1 26.6 27.3 31.3 12.4 22.8 20.2 25.8 14.9

Normal (>=12 ng/dL) 73.2 72.9 73.4 72.7 68.7 87.6 77.2 79.8 74.2 85.1

N 7415 2868 4547 3716 1918 535 459 57 403 327

Ferritin Level - Pregnant Mothers Low Ferritin (<12 ng/dL) 38.2 36.7 38.7 40.5 34.8 26.4 41.2 0 38.2 45.7

Normal (>=12 ng/dL) 61.8 63.3 61.3 59.5 65.2 73.6 58.8 0 61.8 54.3

N 982 342 640 524 319 35 39 39 26


The survey also analyzed the blood samples for Ferritin levels. It was revealed that among women that were non-pregnant 26.8% had ferritin deficiency of these 27.1% were from ur-ban areas and 26.6% were from rural areas. Further when the data was disaggregated on provincial basis women of Sindh 31.3% had the highest ferritin deficiency, followed by Pun-jab, AJK, Baluchistan, FATA, Gilgit and KP. When the ferritin levels were observed for the pregnant women it was revealed that about 38.2% had ferritin deficiency of which 36.7% were from urban areas and 38.7% were from rural areas. When the deficiency was assessed on provincial basis it was found that Gilgit 45.7% had the highest prevalence of ferritin defi-ciency followed by Baluchistan, Punjab, AJK, Sindh and KP. We also compared the data of ferritin levels over the time and it was revealed that 45% of non-pregnant women had ferritin deficiency in 2001 compared to 26.8% in 2011; similarly in 2001 27.5% of pregnant women had ferritin deficiency in 2001 which has now reached to 38.2%. Fig 5.12 Comparison of Ferritin Levels

3-Iron Deficiency Anemia The data was also evaluated to ascertain the iron deficiency anemia among the mothers of index child both non pregnant and pregnant. It was revealed that 19.9% of the total non-pregnant women had iron deficiency anemia of which 18.5% were from urban areas and 20.5 were from rural areas. When data was looked for provincial variance it was found that women who had IDA, 20% of them were from Punjab, 23% were from Sindh, 5.4% were from KPK, 16.1% were from Baluchistan, 15.9% were from FATA, 18.7% were from AJK and 10% were from Gilgit. Similarly the data was evaluated for pregnant women and it was observed that 25.9% of the total pregnant women had iron deficiency anemia of which 25.6 % were from urban areas


and 26.1% were from rural areas. When data was looked for provincial variance it was found that pregnant women who had IDA, 27% of them were from Punjab, 24.6 % were from Sindh, 15.3 % were from KPK, 31.1% were from Baluchistan, 28.4% were from AJK and 30.4 % were from Gilgit. Table: 5.10 Iron Deficiency Anemia

Iron Deficiency Anemia - Non-Pregnant Mothers

Total


Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Baluchistan FATA AJK Gilgit

Severe IDA 0.8 0.6 0.9 0.6 1.3 0.1 1.5 0 0.3 0.3

Moderate IDA 19.1 18 19.6 19.4 21.8 5.2 14.6 15.9 18.4 9.7

Non Anemic 80.1 81.5 79.5 80 77 94.6 83.9 84.1 81.3 90

N 6873 2728 4145 3519 1887 292 440 37 401 297

Iron Deficiency Anemia - Pregnant Mothers

Severe IDA 1 1 1 0.6 2.1 0 0 0 0 0

Moderate IDA 24.9 24.6 25 26.4 22.5 15.3 31.1 0 28.4 30.4

Non Anemic 74.1 74.4 73.9 73 75.4 84.7 68.9 0 71.6 69.6

N 949 334 615 502 315 32 37 0 39 24

4-Vitamin A Deficiency (Mother of Index Child) The retinol levels were also checked on the blood samples taken from mothers of index child (both pregnant and non-pregnant) to determine the Vitamin A deficiency. Among those that were non-pregnant the data revealed that about 43.1% had Vitamin A deficiency of these 34.3 were from urban areas and 46.9% were from rural areas. We also evaluated the data for the provincial variance and found that in non-pregnant mothers of index child 43.4% had VAD from Punjab, 36.2% had VAD from Sindh, 71.7% had VAD from KPK, 50.2% had VAD from Baluchistan, 83.3% had VAD from FATA, 12.5% had VAD from AJK and 39% had VAD from Gilgit. Data was also explored for those that were pregnant and it was revealed that about 48.8 % had Vitamin A deficiency of these 41.4% were from urban areas and 51.6 % were from rural areas. We also evaluated the data for the provincial variance for pregnant women as well and found that in pregnant mothers of index child 46.7 % had VAD from Punjab, 49.5% had VAD from Sindh, 85.2% had VAD from KPK, 62.5 % had VAD from Baluchistan, 30.6 % had VAD from AJK and 44.5 % had VAD from Gilgit.


Table 5.11: Vitamin A Deficiency – pregnant and Non Pregnant Mothers

Vitamin A Deficiency - Non Pregnant Mothers

Total Residence Province / Region


Severe (<0.35 µmol/L) 17.8 10.1 21 19.2 10.3 38 20.3 48.2 0.5 8.5

Mild (0.35 - 0.70 µmol/L)

25.4 24.2 25.9 24.3 25.9 33.7 29.9 35 12 30.5

Non deficient (>0.70 µmol/L)

56.9 65.7 53.1 56.6 63.8 28.3 49.8 16.8 87.5 61

N 6925 2686 4239 3502 1819 434 435 57 394 284

Vitamin A Deficiency - Pregnant Mothers Severe (<0.35 µmol/L) 19.9 15.6 21.5 20.5 16.5 47.7 26.7 0 0 20.9

Mild (0.35 - 0.70 µmol/L)

28.8 25.8 30 26 33 37.5 35.8 0 30.6 23.6

Non deficient (>0.70 µmol/L) 51.2 58.6 48.4 53.5 50.5 14.8 37.5 0 69.4 55.5

N 912 329 583 497 285 30 36 42 22

We also made the comparison of Vitamin A deficiency between the data of 2011 and 2001 and it was revealed that in 2001 about 5.9 % of the women were VAD compared to 30.3% in NNS 2011. Similar trends were seen in both urban and rural areas. Fig 5.13 Comparison of VAD among mothers

5-Zinc Deficiency In mothers of Index Child: Serum zinc levels were also determined on the blood samples taken from the mother of the index child. The serum analysis of mothers that were not pregnant revealed that 41.6% women were zinc deficient of these 38.2% belonged to urban areas and 43.2% belonged to


rural areas. The data was also analyzed for the provincial variance and it was revealed that the 40.8% women from Punjab, 38.9% from Sindh , 47.9% from KPK, 40.9% from Baluchis-tan, 41.8% from FATA, 66.9% from AJK and 36.3% from Gilgit were Zinc deficient. When it comes to the pregnant mothers of the index child it was found that 48.3 % women were zinc deficient of these 47.2 % belonged to urban areas and 48.7 % belonged to rural areas. The data was also analyzed for the provincial variance and it was revealed that the 48.6% pregnant women from Punjab, 44.6% from Sindh , 47.7 % from KPK, 44.7% from Ba-luchistan, 1.2 % from AJK and 45.6 % from Gilgit were Zinc deficient. Table 5.12 Zinc Deficiency In mothers of Index Child:

Zinc Deficiency - Non Pregnant Mothers

Total



Deficient (<60 µg/dL) 41.6 38.2 43.2 40.8 38.9 47.9 40.9 41.8 66.9 63.7

Non-Deficient (>=60 µg/dL)

58.4 61.8 56.8 59.2 61.1 52.1 59.1 58.2 33.1 36.3

N 5953 2395 3558 2792 1684 293 448 46 363 327

Zinc Deficiency - Pregnant Mothers Deficient (<60 µg/dL) 48.3 47.2 48.7 48.6 44.6 47.7 44.7 0 98.8 54.4

Non-Deficient (>=60 µg/dL) 51.7 52.8 51.3 51.4 55.4 52.3 55.3 0 1.2 45.6

N 791 285 506 393 276 20 38 0 38 26

Fig 5.14 Zinc deficiency


We also had done the comparison of zinc deficient between the NNS 2011 and 2001. The data showed that in NNS 2001 the prevalence of zinc deficiency was 41.9% which has now become 46.9%. When the comparisons were done between urban and rural areas it was found that in 2001 the prevalence of zinc deficiency in urban areas was 36.2% which is now 44.4% similarly in 2001 the prevalence was 44.09% which has now increased to 48%. 6-Calcium Status: In NNS 2001 Calcium levels were ascertained for the first time on such a large scale, the cal-cium levels in the serum were determined for the mothers of index child both non-pregnant and pregnant. The data revealed that about 51.1% of the women that were non-pregnant had Hypocalcaemia out of which 51.9% were from urban areas and 50.8% were from rural areas. We also evaluated the levels of calcium on provincial level and the data showed that about 52.3% women from Punjab, 44.2% from Sindh, 70.9% from KPK, 59,8% from Baluchis-tan, 81.4% from FATA, 5.9% from AJK and 44.5% from Gilgit had Hypocalcaemia. When it comes to Pregnant women it was found that about 58.3% of the women that were pregnant had Hypocalcaemia out of which 61.6 % were from urban areas and 57.1 % were from rural areas. We also evaluated the levels of calcium in pregnant women on provincial level and the data showed that about 63.4 % pregnant women from Punjab, 50.4 % from Sindh, 61.4 % from KPK, 62.9 % from Baluchistan, 4.4 % from AJK and 71.3 % from Gilgit had Hypocalcaemia Table: 5.13 Calcium Status

Calcium Deficiency - Non Pregnant Mothers

Total



Hypo Calcimia (<8.4 mg/dL) 51.1 51.9 50.8 52.3 44.2 70.9 59.8 81.4 5.9 44.5

Normal (8.4-10.2 mg/dL) 39.7 39.4 39.8 36.1 49.6 22.4 39.4 18.6 85.5 54.4

Hyper Calcimia (>10.2 mg/dL) 9.2 8.8 9.4 11.6 6.2 6.7 0.8 0 8.5 1.1

N 7818 3137 4681 4022 1903 656 459 44 410 324

Calcium Deficiency - Pregnant Mothers Hypo Calcimia (<8.4 mg/dL) 58.3 61.6 57.1 63.4 50.4 61.4 62.9 0 4.4 71.3

Normal (8.4 - 10.2 mg/dL)

33.8 30.5 35.1 28 41.6 34 37.1 0 95 28.7

Hyper Calcimia (>10.2 mg/dL) 7.8 7.9 7.8 8.6 8 4.5 0 0 0.6 0

N 1048 387 661 578 323 42 36 0 43 26


7- Vitamin D Deficiency: The NNS 2011 also determined the Biochemical levels of Vitamin D deficiency on such a larger scale for the first time. Vitamin D levels were tested on the samples taken from the mothers of index child both regnant and non-pregnant. It was found that there is a widespread deficiency of Vitamin D in Pakistan and among non-pregnant mothers of index child 85.1% were vitamin D deficient out of these 87.9 were from urban areas and 84.2 were from rural areas. When the vitamin D deficiency was assessed on provincial level it was found the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among non-pregnant women in Punjab was 83.5%, in Sindh it was 90.5%, in KP it was 79.5%, in Baluchistan it was 82.6%, in FATA it was 85%, in AJK it was 95% and in Gilgit it was 96.2%.

The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was also determined for the pregnant women. The data re-vealed that among pregnant mothers of index child 86.1% were vitamin D deficient out of these 86.3% were from urban areas and 86.1% were from rural areas. When the vitamin D deficiency was assessed on provincial level it was found the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among pregnant women in Punjab was 87.7 %, in Sindh it was 84.6 %, in KP it was 77.5 %, in Baluchistan it was 77.6 %, in FATA it in AJK it was 85.5 % and in Gilgit it was 95.7 %.

Table 5.14: Vitamin D Deficiency – Pregnant and Non Pregnant Mothers

Vitamin D Deficiency - Non Pregnant Mothers

Total



Severe Deficiency (<8.0 ng/mL)

25.3 46.3 18.4 25.1 30.7 12.7 21.1 7.6 25.4 21

Deficiency (8.0 - 20.0 ng/mL) 40.9 30.5 44.4 40.9 42.4 32.1 36 46.9 48.2 66.1

Desirable (>20.0 - 30.0 ng/mL)

18.8 11.2 21.4 17.5 17 34.7 25.5 30.6 21.5 9.1

Sufficient (>30.0 ng/mL) 14.9 12.1 15.8 16.5 10 20.5 17.4 15 4.9 3.8

N 5402 1965 3437 3023 1154 290 363 32 334 206

Vitamin D Deficiency - Pregnant Mothers Severe Deficiency (<8.0 ng/mL)

26.5 50.7 20.2 29.3 22.8 12.7 22.5 0 15 68.9

Deficiency (8.0 - 20.0 ng/mL)

42 27.7 45.7 41.9 44.7 26.5 26.8 0 60.2 22.5

Desirable (>20.0 - 30.0 ng/mL)

17.6 7.9 20.1 16.4 17.1 38.3 28.3 0 10.3 4.3

Sufficient (>30.0 ng/mL) 13.9 13.7 13.9 12.3 15.4 22.5 22.4 0 14.5 4.3

N 699 222 477 400 189 20 41 0 39 10


Chapter 6: Child Health and Nutrition

Section 1: Nutrition Status of the Index Children 6.1.1 Children 0 – 59 months The details of distribution of children 0 – 59 months of age by provinces and regions are giv-en in the following figure:

Fig 6.1 Household with Children Under 5 Years

At national level 25.5% households were without any child of <5 years while 40.1% had only one child under-5 years. FATA and AJK data shows that almost all households had a child under-5. Punjab, Sindh and KKP showed similar trends. 6.1.2 Sex and Age Distribution of Index Children

The mean age of index children was 24.9 months and 52.3% of them were males. The pro-portion of male children was relatively higher in rural than urban areas (Table 6.2). Majority of index children (21.8%) belonged to the age group of 12-23 months. About 12% were less than 6 months, 15% between 6-11 months, 20.35% between 24-35 months, 15.4% between 36-47 months and 15.5% between 48-59 months. Provincial and regional details are given in the following figure.


Fig 6.2 Age Distribution of Index Children - National

Fig 6.3 Provincial Distribution by Age Group (Index Children)

Provincial and regional data also showed similar trends in distribution of children in differ-ent age groups. Detail is given in the figure 6.3


6.1.3 Anthropometry (Index Children) The unique aspect of the NNS 2011 was that the index children were part of “Mother-child” pair. Therefore the anthropometry and bio-chemical samples of blood were taken from the pair of biological mother and child. Wasting, stunting and underweight are widely used in-dices for describing the prevalence of malnutrition in childhood across the world Fig 6.4 Prevalence of Malnutrition (Index Children)

6.1.4 Stunting (Index Children)

Severe stunting was observed to be alarmingly high (23.5%) among children at national lev-el. It was high in urban area (26%) and low in rural (22.5 %). Results showed that prevalence of stunting from severe to mild had similar trends at national level. Fig 6.5 Stunting Rates (Index Child) - National

Regional/provincial variations were noted in the prevalence of stunting. Severe stunting among children were found comparatively high in FATA (35.5%) and lowest in AJK (11.9 %)


Fig 6.5a Stunting Rates (Index Child) – Provinces

Fig 6.6 Stunting rates (Index child) age group wise

However for moderate stunting, KPK, FATA and Gilgit had almost similar trends (24%) and Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and AJK around 20 percent. The prevalence of severe stunting gradually increased since birth up to 35 months and has decreased in similar manner from 36 to 59 months.


6.1.5 Wasting (Index Children)

As stunting, the prevalence of wasting also increases with age however the prevalence of wasting is much lower than that of stunting. Wasting rate at national level was 16.8 percent and was high in urban area (23 %) than in rural area (18%).

Prevalence of wasting of index children was high in Sindh (19.4 %) followed by Balochistan (18.6 %) and then KPK (17.9 %), lowest in Gilgit (8.6 %). FATA results were also showed low-er wasting rate (9.6 %) as compare to other regions.

6.1.6 Underweight (Index Children) 31.2 percent children were underweight at national level. The prevalence of underweight was high (33.1%) in rural area as compare to urban (26.5%).


In regional and provincial comparison, FATA data showed the lowest rate of underweight (12.9%) while Balochistan had highest (41.8%) followed by Sindh (39.8%).

Fig 6.11 Under Weight (Index child) – by age group

Unlike the variations in stunting and wasting by different age groups, Percentage of under-weight children remained constant or increased with age.

6.1.7 Education of Index Mothers and its Effect on Stunting, Wasting and Underweight Status of Children It is evident from the literature that employ-ment and education of mother has a direct as-sociation with nutrition status of children. The finding of the NNS 2011 revealed that education of mother was closely associated with child stunting, wasting and underweight status. Malnutrition declined with higher education status of mothers.


6.1.8 Anthropometry (All Children) In addition to the assessment of index children, we also undertook anthropometric mea-surement of all children under 5 (N=29525) available in selected households. Fig 6.13 Prevalence of Malnutrition in Pakistan (All Children <5)

In Pakistan 43.7 percent children <5 were stunted. In rural area the stunting in children was high (46.3%) than in urban area (36.9%). Wasting rate was 15.1 percent and fewer children were wasted in urban areas (12.7%) as compared with rural areas (16.1%). 31.5 percent of the children were underweight, with higher rates in rural areas (33.3%). The indicators of malnutrition appeared to be higher in rural areas than in urban areas. 6.1.9 Stunting (All Children <5) The severe stunting in children showed an alarming picture (24.4%) across Pakistan. It was high in urban areas (26 .4%) than in rural areas (23.5%). Fig 6.14 Stunting Rates (All Under 5) - National


6.1.10 Wasting (All Children <5) The wasting rate at national level for all children < 5 was 15.1 percent, higher in rural areas (16.1%) than in urban areas (12.7%)

Fig 6.15 Wasting Rates (All Under 5) - National

6.1.11 Underweight (All Children <5) 29.7 percent children were severely underweight across Pakistan. There was slight differ-ence in rural and urban areas.

Fig 6.16 Underweight (All Children <5) National


6.1.12 National Trends in Malnutrition (All Children) The malnutrition status of children under 5 years did not show any improvement since the last 46 years despite the fact that many nutrition intervention programs were launched by the UN organizations, Int’l and national NGOs. Even the establishment of Nutrition Wing in 2002 under the Ministry of Health did not make any significant improvement in the nutrition status of children in Pakistan. Fig 6.17 Malnutrition National Trends (All Children)

NNS 2011 results revealed that indicators of stunting and wasting were worsening during last 10 years. 43.7 percent children were stunted; this was relatively high than NNS 2001 (41.6 percent). Similar trends observed for wasting, 15.1 percent children in Pakistan were suffering from wasting in NNS 2011 as compare to 14.3 percent in NNS 2001. But luckily un-derweight rates remained constant during last one decade (31.5%). (NNS 1987 used NCHS standards and shown for comparison only) 6.1.13 Provincial Trends in Malnutrition (All Children) – Pakistan Except in AJK where stunting rate had decreased from 36.4 percent (NNS 2001) to 31.7 per-cent (NNS 2011), the situation had worsened in all other provinces. Dramatically the wasting rate in AJK increased from 7.6 percent to 17.7 percent during the last decade whereas prov-ince shown steady improvement in other nutrition indicators. Except KPK where wasting rate increased other provinces shown some improvement. KPK showed a remarkable improvement in underweight children which has been reduced to 24.1 percent in NNS 2011 from 35.5 percent in NNS 2001. In contrast, underweight rate in Balochistan had increased from 34.8 percent in NNS 2001 and 39.6 in NNS 2011.


Fig 6.18 Provincial Trends of Stunting, Wasting and Underweight (All Children -5)

* Only NNS 2011 was powered for provincial specificity

6.1.14 Regional Trends in Malnutrition (All Children) – SAARC Countries Comparison Pakistan stands second highest in the stunting rate (43.7%) since many decades, after Afg-hanistan which suffered with all odds (Social, Political, Economic, etc. Nepal and India jointly shared the stunting rate at 43 percent. Even Bhutan had better indicators than Pakistan.

Fig 6.19 SAARC Countries National Stunting Trends


Pakistan however made some improvement in wasting rate (15%). Pakistan and Srilanka had third highest wasting rates in the region. Even Afghanistan had better situation than Pakis-tan. Fig 6.20 SAARC Countries National Wasting Trends

Pakistan had lower rates of underweight as compare to other SAARC countries, but still Bhu-tan, Srilanka and Maldives had better rates of underweight. Fig 6.21 SAARC Countries National Underweight Trends

Section 2: Biochemical Analysis Biochemical assessment is one of the established methods (Clinical observation and examination, anthropometric measurements, dietary history) for the study of the nutritional status of popula-tions. Biochemical assessments are much more accurate and precise. Many micronutrient deficien-cies do not produce signs or symptoms until they are quite severe. As a result, mild micronutrient deficiencies can only be diagnosed using biochemical indicators. Biochemical tests have the advan-tage of providing objective measures of micronutrient status. They usually reflect the immediate


past intake of nutrients or the changes produced by a long-standing deficient intake of a nutrient and not its current intake. The common biochemical assessments are haemoglobin estimation for Iron Deficiency Anemia, Serum Vitamin A Level for Vitamin A Deficiency and Urinary Iodine Level for Iodine Deficiency. Iron status may also be quantified by measuring a number of different compo-nents including serum ferritin, serum transferrin receptor, zinc protophorphyrin, and transferrin saturation. We analyzed following important and essential biochemical assessments to determine the status of micronutrient deficiencies in children less than 5 years of age.

Iron: Iron deficiency anaemia adversely affects the cognitive ability of children. It is estimated that the decline of half a standard deviation in adult IQ and cognitive test performance is the outcome of iron deficiency anaemia in child hood.1

Vitamin Deficiencies: Vitamin A is an essential micronutrient required for normal vision, growth and development, immune function and reproduction. Vitamin A deficiency is a contributing factor in the 2.2 million deaths each year from diarrhoea among children under 5 and nearly 1 million deaths from measles. Severe deficiency can also cause irreversible corneal damage, leading to partial or to-tal blindness.

Iodine: Iodine deficiency leads children to suffer from varying degrees of brain damage, physical im-pairment, mental retardation and goitres.

Zinc: Zinc deficiency is associated with complications of pregnancy and birth outcomes, impaired immune function, and increased duration and severity of diarrhoea in children. It also causes growth retardation, and several studies have shown that zinc supplementation can produce significant

6.2.1: Hemoglobin Level - Index Child Overall 62.1% (severe deficient 5.4 and Moderate deficiency 56.7%) of children were found to be anaemic (<10.99gm\dl) at national level. Regional differences in the prevalence of anaemia were substantial, ranging from 40 % in Gilgit to 86.3 % in FATA. The prevalence of severe anaemia was observed comparatively high in rural areas (6.1%) compare to urban areas (3.9%). Table 6.1 haemoglobin levels Index child

National Residence Province / Region

Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Baloc- histan FATA AJK Gilgit

Severe deficiency (<7 gm/dL) 5.4 3.9 6.1 4.4 6.3 6.5 9.9 43.7 1.8 1.4


56.7 59.2 55.6 56 67 40.4 47.7 42.6 43.7 38.6

Normal (>= 12 gm/dL) 37.9 36.9 38.3 39.7 26.6 53.2 42.4 13.7 54.6 60

N 11882 4745 7137 6128 2895 798 783 110 801 367

1 Ross J; Horton


Fig 6.22 Comparison of Anemia- Index child

The table below compares the prevalence of anemia among under-5 children in various sur-veys since 1990 using comparable methods. Anemia in children under five years (in percen-tage) Table 6.2 comparison of hemoglobin levels Males Females Urban Rural

Moderate Severe Moderate Severe Moderate Severe Moderate Severe NHS 1990-94 40.4 5 41.9 4.7 - - - -

NNS 2001-02 46.9 3.4 47.9 3.8 49.2 4.3 44.5 2.4 NNS 2011 57.1 5.5 56.3 5.3 59.2 3.9 55.6 6.1

Source: NHS; NNS

6.2.2: Ferritin Level - Index Child The ferritin deficiency level was 43.8% among index children in Pakistan during NNS 2011. Regional differences in the prevalence of ferritin deficiency were high, ranging from 14.7 % in FATA to 48.4 % in Punjab. Comparatively high prevalence was noted in urban areas (45.8%) as compare with rural areas (43.0%). Table 6.3 Ferritin deficiency level- Index Child


Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Balochistan FATA AJK Gilgit Low Ferritin (<12 ng/dL) 43.7 45.8 42.9 48.4 40.1 21.2 35 14.7 43.6 36.2

Normal (>=12 ng/dL) 56.3 54.2 57.1 51.6 59.9 78.8 65 85.3 56.4 63.8

N 8080 3124 4956 4354 2010 488 396 46 442 344 We compared the data of anaemia between NNS 2011 and NNS 2001, the data revealed a clear difference in the prevalence of anaemia, during NNS 2001 the prevalence of anaemia was 65.5%


and currently it come down 43% and similar trends was noted residence level (rural /Urban. Com-parative trends among both surveys are given in below figure. Fig 6.23 Comparison of Iron/Ferritin Level - Index Child

6.2.3: Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) - Index Child Iron deficiency anaemia was also assessed for index children, about one third (33.4%) of the index children were found with iron deficiency anaemia at national level. Regional differences were sub-stantial, ranging from 13.4% in KPK to 36.4% in Punjab. The prevalence of Severe Iron deficiency anemia among index children is 2.6% and moderate anaemia 30.8%. No notable variations were observed at area of residence level. Table 6.4 Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) - Index Child



Severe Iron defi-ciency anemia 2.6 2.6 2.6 2.8 2.6 0.1 0.8 26.3 0.8 0.6

Moderate Iron de-ficiency anemia 30.8 31.9 30.4 33.6 29.2 13.3 21.9 0 27.5 20.2

Non Anemic 66.6 65.5 67 63.6 68.2 86.6 77.3 73.7 71.7 79.2

7589 2989 4600 4150 2004 298 364 16 441 316


Fig 6.24 Comparison of Iron Deficiency Anemia - Index Child

Findings of Iron deficiency anemia were compared with NNS 2001. Below figure reflect that there is no major change in the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia Since NNS 2001 at national and area of residence level. 6.2.4: Vitamin A Deficiency - Index Child Vitamin A is an essential micronutrient required for normal vision, growth and development, im-mune function and reproduction. During NNS 2011 vitamin A deficiencies were assessed among in-dex children. The data from NNS 2011 showed that ooverall 56% index children were found vitamin A deficient (23.2% severely deficient 32. 7% were mild deficient). The scenario in FATA was de-pressing where 94.6% index children were found severely Vitamin A deficient, this might be due to the small number of samples analyzed from FATA right away. The high prevalence of mild Vitamin A deficiency was found in Gilgit region (49.6%).

Table 6.5 Vitamin A Deficiency - Index Child

Total


Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Baloc histan FATA AJK Gilgit

Severe (<0.35 µmol/L) 23.3 16.9 25.9 20.3 23.2 51.4 48.8 94.6 2.6 32.1

Mild (0.35 - 0.70 µmol/L) 32.7 33.2 32.4 32.6 34.4 26.1 31.9 5.4 34.7 49.6

Non deficient (>0.70 µmol/L) 44 49.9 41.7 47.2 42.5 22.4 19.3 0 62.7 18.3

N 7128 2718 4410 4165 1566 399 290 38 395 275


Fig 6.25 Comparison between NNS 2011 and 2001

6.2.5: Zinc Deficiency - Index Child The survey revealed that overall prevalence of zinc deficiency among index children in Pakis-tan was 36.5% (36.6% in urban and 36.4% in rural areas), whereas 35.2% in Punjab, 38.8% in Sindh, 34% in KPK, 34.3% in Balochistan, 34.2 in FATA, 49.1% in AJK and 32.6% in Gilgit are deficient using comparable cut offs. Table 6.6 Zinc Deficiency - Index Child

Total



Deficient (<60 µg/dL) 36.5 36.6 36.4 35.2 38.8 34 34.3 34.2 49.1 32.6

Non-Deficient (60 - 150 µg/dL) 63.5 63.4 63.6 64.8 61.2 66 65.7 65.8 50.9 67.4

N 6847 2643 4204 3523 1883 360 334 26 376 345

Zinc deficiency data of NNS were compared with the data of NNS 2001. Data shows that there was a slight change in the proportion of zinc deficient children as measured by serum zinc concentrations between NNS 2001 (37.1%) and 2011 (36.5%).


Fig 6.26 Comparison of Zinc deficiency Index child

6.2.6: Vitamin D Deficiency - Index Child The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among index children at national level was 41.1% (Sever 10.1% and deficient31%). High prevalence of sever vitamin D deficiency (19.7) were noted in urban areas as compare to rural areas (6.8) and similar trend was observed in defi-cient group. Substantial variations were noted at regional level, ranging from 2.1% in FATA to Sindh. Table 6.7 Vitamin D Deficiency - Index Child

Total


Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Baloc histan FATA AJK Gilgit

Severe Deficiency (<8.0 ng/mL) 10.1 19.7 6.8 10.4 11.6 7 9 2.1 2.4 3.1

Deficiency (8.0 - 20.0 ng/mL)

31 32.9 30.4 31.7 31.3 22.7 31.4 23.9 30.1 28.5

Desirable (>20.0 - 30.0 ng/mL) 27.5 19.8 30.1 27.2 25.7 31.2 23.5 56.6 35.6 38.5

Sufficient (>30.0 ng/mL) 31.4 27.6 32.7 30.7 31.4 39.1 36.1 17.4 31.9 29.9

N 5613 2071 3542 3223 1218 273 299 40 352 208

6.2.7: Urinary Iodine - 6-12 years Children Iodine deficiency leads children to suffer from varying degrees of brain damage, physical impairment, mental retardation and goitres. To assess the prevalence of iodine deficiency 6-12 years age children category was chosen for comparison with the NNS 2001. Overall the data show improvement in comparison to 2001. With regards to Urinary Iodine Excretion


among children aged 6-12 years, 63.3% of the children (urban 61.8% and rural 64.6%) showed normal values, 24.4% of children (Urban 27.4% and rural 22.9%) were mild defi-cient, 10.1% of children (Urban 7.4% and rural 11.6%) moderately deficient and only 2.2% of children (Urban 3.4% and rural 1.6%) were categorized as severely iodine deficient at na-tional level. Comparatively, FATA region has the highest percentage (78.4%) of normal child-ren, followed by KPK with 74.2%, Sindh and Balochistan 65%, Punjab 60.7, AJK 34.6 while Gilgit-Baltistan has the lowest percentage of non-deficient children (30.1%). In consonance with the above, the overall percentage of severely deficient children at national was 2.1%, with Gilgit (18.2%) and AJK (6.5%) showing the highest percentage.

Table 6.8 Urinary Iodine - 6-12 years Children

Total


Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Baloc-histan FATA AJK Gilgit

Severe (<20 µg/L)

2.2 3.4 1.6 2.1 2.1 1 5.5 0 6.5 18.2

Moderate (20 - 49 µg/L) 10.1 7.4 11.4 11.8 7.2 5.8 7.3 0 30.5 20.3

Mild (50 - 99 µg/L) 24.4 27.4 22.9 25.3 25.6 18.9 21.9 10.3 28.5 31.3

Non-Deficient (>=100 µg/L) 63.3 61.8 64.1 60.7 65 74.2 65.3 89.7 34.6 30.1

N 1222 524 698 585 307 162 61 13 65 29

Fig 6.27 Comparison of Iodine deficiency Index children

A sizable improvement was observed in in the prevalence of iodine deficiency between NNS 2001 and 2011, in NNS 2001 the prevalence of sever iodine deficiency was 23.4% and cur-rently this come down to 2.2% at national level and same observation in moderate group, the prevalence of moderate iodine deficiency in NNS 2001 was 19% and in NNS 2011 10.1%,


however there is a slight increase in mild group, the prevalence of mild iodine deficiency in-creased to 24% (NNS 2011) from 21.2% (NNS 2001). Median Urinary Iodine Excretion in 6-12 years Children The median of urinary iodine excretion was also determined in mothers at it was revealed that the Median iodine excretion in mothers was 124.2 ug/l, 117.2 ug/l in urban areas and 129.9 ug/l in rural areas. The provincial distribution of Median Urinary iodine excretion was 115.9 ug/l in Punjab, 133.1 ug/l in Sindh, 154 ug/l in KP, 136.4 ug/l in Balochistan, 183.8 ug/l in FATA, 63.9 ug/l in AJK and 68.2 ug/l in Gilgit. Clinical Examination (Index Child) During the NNS 2011 clinical examination of index children was performed. This examina-tion was done by trained nurses. This is the direct assessment of micronutrient malnutrition and depends upon the clinical signs and symptom. The index children were examined for Anemia, Edema, Jaundice, Goiter and Bitot’s spot, each of these sign and symptom represents a micronutrient deficiency.

The survey revealed that overall 31.7% of the index children were anemic of which 17.6% were from urban and 24.9% were from rural. Regional variations were found in the preva-lence of clinical anemia ranging from 31.7% in AJK, to 3.4% in KPK. from Gilgit. The preva-lence for edema was 0.4% (0.2% urban and 0.2% rural) with no significant variance among provinces except for Gilgit where no single case found during examination. Bitot’s spot was found in 0.2% of the index children (0.1% Urban and 0.3% rural).

Table: 6.9 Clinical Examinations (Index Child)

Clinical Ex-amination Pakistan


Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Balo-

chistan FATA AJK Gilgit

Edema 0.4 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.1 1.3 1.2 0.1 0.2 0

Jaundice 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.9 0.7 0.1 0

Pallor / Anemia 22.8 17.6 24.9 27.4 28.9 3.4 13.1 4.5 31.7 15

Goiter 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.2 0

Bitot's Spot 0.2 0.1 0.3 0 0.1 0.1 0.8 3.8 0.1 0

N 20537 7929 12608 9174 4409 2458 1677 888 1292 639


Section 3: Child Immunization: The government of Pakistan is providing the vaccine free of cost at, basic health units, rural health centers, Tehsil/District and other state-run hospitals, as part of its national immuniza-tion programme. The programme guidelines recommend that all children receive a BCG vaccination against tuberculosis; three doses of DPT vaccine for the prevention of diphthe-ria, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus; three doses of polio vaccine; three doses of the hepatitis vaccine; and a vaccination against measles during the first year of the child’s life. In addition to the programme of routine immunizations, since 1994 Pakistan has also conducted a number of special national immunization days (NID) in the effort to eradicate polio. Although health indicators are steadily improving in Pakistan, the nation is still far away from achieving its child health-related Millennium Development Goal (MDG).

The vaccination has reduced burden of mortality and morbidity of vaccine preventable dis-eases in the industrial countries. However, the coverage of the immunizations has not reached to optimal level in some developing countries including Pakistan. The reasons of no-immunization or under immunization in the some segments of population are multiple and integrated with socio cultural, politico economic and behavioral barriers to vaccination.

According to the EPI programme, approximately 5.1 million children are given immunization services every year. Morbidity and mortality are significantly reduced due to the immuniza-tion programme in Pakistan. It is estimated that more than 100,000 deaths due to measles, 70,000 cases of neonatal tetanus, and 20,000 paralytic cases of poliomyelitis are being pre-vented each year in Pakistan due to these vaccinations (NIH, 2008). In NNS 2011, mothers were asked to show the interviewer the vaccine cards of all children under the age of five. The interviewer copied from the card the date each vaccine was re-ceived. If a child never received a vaccine card or if the mother was unable to show the card to the interviewer, the mother was asked to recall whether the child had received BCG, Po-lio, Measles, and Pentavalent including the number of doses for each vaccination. Fig 6.28 Availability of Vaccination Card

The data of 19927 children showed that one-third households re-ported availability of vaccination card at the time of survey.


Vaccination Coverage: Information on vaccination coverage according to the source of information used to deter-mine coverage is presented in Table 7.1, i.e., the vaccination card or mother’s recall report. Data are presented for children less than 5 years of age. Table 6.10: Vaccinations by source of information

Source of information BCG Measles OPV Pentavalent Vaccination card 31.5 23.1 27.2 30 Mother’s recall 86.6 64.6 95.0 76

BCG vaccination based on mother’s recall was 86.6% in Pakistan; however verification from vaccination card shown that only 31.5% were received BCG vaccination.

Measles trends show that only 64.4% children <5 were vaccinated however only 23.1% were verified from the vaccination card.

An overwhelming majority (95%) of mothers reported that their children received Oral Polio drops. However the record shown that only 27.2% children were received oral polio drops. Half (52.3%) of reported vaccinated children were received polio drops more than 7 times, 26.1% 7 times, 19.3% 3 times while rest of the mothers could not recall.

The Pentavalent Vaccine a new combination of five vaccines that protects children against the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and four other common childhood dis-eases was introduced in Pakistan in November 2008. Pakistan is the first low-income coun-try in South Asia, who introduced the Hib vaccine. Almost 85% children were taken all 3 doses of Pentavalent vaccine. But only 30% was verified by vaccination card. Fig 6.29 Provincial Trend: Pentavalent Dose Rate


Fig 6.30 Provincial Trends for Availability of Vaccination Card

Among all provinces and regions AJK families kept the vaccination card (44.2%) in safe place more than in any other part of the country, while the lowest was in FATA i.e. only 7.6%. Table 6.11: Pakistan and Regional Immunization Trends by Source of Information (Mother’s recall & vaccination card) Regions

BCG Pentavalent OPV Measles Recall Card Recall Card Recall Card Recall Card

Pakistan 86.6 31.5 76.0 30.1 95.0 27.2 64.6 23.1 Urban 91.2 39.7 79.0 36.5 95.8 34.8 69.9 29.1 Rural 84.7 28.2 74.8 27.6 94.6 24.2 62.5 20.6 Punjab 91.2 38.2 86.0 36.8 98.0 34.2 67.3 27.0 Sindh 81.6 19.0 54.2 16.7 94.5 15.6 54.9 14.3 KPK 90.2 35.4 85.2 36.6 94.0 28.4 78.8 31.2 Balochistan 58.2 20.3 48.8 19.4 83.3 17.4 39.5 14.5 FATA 70.9 6.7 63.4 3.1 74.1 2.2 64.9 1.8 AJK 93.8 42.7 89.7 40.5 97.5 38.3 67.4 26.3 Gilgit 82.5 33.7 77.3 33.0 99.4 33.1 63.5 27.0

According to the data shown in Table 7.2 for various vaccinations; BCG, Measles, OPV and Pentavalent the provincial trends shown mixed trends for each vaccine in different provinc-es and regions.

Table 7.2 shows that vaccination coverage was higher in urban areas than in rural areas. Immunization coverage varies substantially across provinces. AJK (94% & 42%) and Punjab (91% & 38%) had highest coverage of BCG by mother’s recall and vaccination card, while FATA (71% & 7%) and Balochistan (58% & 20%) had considerably lower BCG coverage. Avail-ability of vaccination card was also varies across provinces, ranging from 6.7 percent in FATA to 42.7 percent in AJK.


Section 4: Morbidity Trends in Children: Apart from neonatal disorders, diarrhea and pneumonia are the major causes of death in children under five worldwide (Black et al., 2003). In the NNS 2011, mothers of children un-der five were asked if the children had symptoms associated with acute respiratory illness (cough/flu, pneumonia, severe pneumonia and diarrhea) on the day of interview or two weeks preceding the survey. Fig 6.31 Current ARI Status (Index Child

6.4.1: Prevalence of ARI ARI is a common cause of morbidity and death among children under five years of age. Pneumonia is characterized by difficult or rapid breathing. Severe pneumonia is defined as difficult or rapid breathing and chest in-drawing. According to mothers of index children 4.9 percent of the children had pneumonia on the day of interview; however upon observation by community nurse 5.4 percent children had signs consistent with Pneumonia. The survey findings revealed that either by observation or reported by mother; the ARI (cough/flu, pneumonia, severe pneumonia) were more preva-lent in urban areas than in rural areas across Pakistan. Severe pneumonia symptoms were reported for 1.4% children and observed proportion was 1%. 6.4.2: Prevalence of Diarrhea: Diarrhea is also a major cause of mortality among children. Childhood diarrhea has been a serious health problem in Pakistan. Both its prevention, through improved water and sanita-tion, and management through oral rehydration salts (ORS) and Zinc are on the top of gov-ernment priority list.


The prevalence of diarrhea was determined on the basis of WHO definition reported two weeks prior to survey, and on the day of interview. The households were asked to report whether a child had diarrhea on the day of interview or two weeks preceding the survey. Fig 6.32 Prevalence of Diarrhea

12 percent children reported to be suffering from diarrhea at the time of visit and 20 per-cent had diarrhea during last two weeks across Pakistan. The prevalence of diarrhea (cur-rent and last two weeks) was similar between urban and rural areas. Current diarrhea prevalence was highest in Gilgit (19%) and Punjab (16%). Similarly preva-lence of diarrhea during last weeks was highest in Punjab (29%), Gilgit (29%), AJK (26%) and Sindh (23%). Fig 6.33 Worm Infestation among children


During last six months, about 5.9 percent of the children reported to have been diagnosed with worm infestation across Pakistan especially from AJK (13.9%) and Gilgit (12.1%). The prevalence was high in urban areas (6.3%) than in rural areas (5.7%). Overall, only 2.3% of the children reported having worm infestation at the time of household visit during data col-lection with highest proportion reported from Gilgit (7.6% and AJK (5.4%).)


Chapter 7: INFANT AND YOUNG CHILD FEEDING PRACTICES Infant and young child feeding practices directly affect the nutritional status of children un-der two years of age and, ultimately, impact child survival. Improving infant and young child feeding practices in children 0–23 months of age is therefore critical to improved nutrition, health and development of children. Exclusive Breast feeding (EBF) less than 6 months of age is a prime indicator of key nutrition practices. “UNICEF and WHO recommend that children be exclusively breastfed—fed only breast milk with no other liquids (including water) or food—on demand for the first 6 months of life”. The proportion of EBF is estimated on the basis of feeding practices in the past 24 hours dietary recall. Fig 7.1: Initiation of breastfeeding within one hour

NNS 2011 data revealed that 40.5 percent of mothers had initiated breast feeding within one hour of birth. The percentage was greater in rural (41.4%) than in urban areas (38.4%). This trend of early initiation of breast feeding was highest in FATA 79.5 percent, followed by KPK 74.3 percent, then Balochistan 63.4 percent and Gilgit 61.8 percent. Trends observed in Punjab (40.5%), Sindh (50.5%) and AJK (38.3%) differed. Survey analysis showed that 65 percent of mothers exclusively breastfed their children un-der-6 months and 78 percent continued breast feeding up to 12- 15 months. Exclusive breastfeeding was higher in rural (67%) than in urban areas (59%). The rate of exclusive breastfeeding was highest in KPK (8368%) and lowest in FATA (836%). 72 percent mothers continued breast-feeding practice (12-15months) in urban areas and 80 percent in rural areas.


Fig 7.2: Exclusive Breast Feeding

Fig 7.3: Introduction of Semi solid food

More than half (52%) of mothers across Pakistan reported that they had started giving semi sol-id foods to their children at 6 -8 months. The percentage was higher (69%) in urban areas than in rural areas (45%). KPK (36%) & AJK (36%) had lower trends of introduction of food at 6-8 months in comparison to other provinces.


Fig 7.4: Minimum Dietary Diversity (6-23 months)

Dietary diversity is estimated as proportion of children 6-23.9 months of age who received foods from 4 or more food groups. NNS 2011 survey finding revealed that 3.6% mothers practiced dietary diversity for their children. Mothers of urban areas practiced minimum di-etary diversity at higher rate than mothers of rural areas. 6.2% vs. 2.4%).FATA (15.4%) and AJK (8.9%) ranked highest in minimum dietary diversity amongst other provinces. Fig 7.5: Minimum Meal Frequency (6-23 months)

Minimal meal frequency is estimated as proportion of breastfed and non-breastfed children of 6-23.9 months of age, who receive solid, semi-solid, or soft foods (also includes milk feeds for children not -breastfed) the minimum number of times or more.

Overall 65.7% mothers provided foods to their children at a minimally acceptable meal fre-quency (“Minimum is defined as 2 times for breastfed infants 6-8.9 months, 3 times for breastfed children 9 -23.9 months and 4 times for non-breastfed children 6-23.9 months).


The minimum meal frequency practice was high in urban 73.6 percent vs. 62.3 percent in rural area. About half of all mothers practiced minimal meal frequency practice in all re-gions/provinces.

Fig 7.6: Minimum acceptable diet (6-23 months)

Minimum acceptable diet defined as proportion of children 6–23 months of age who receive a minimum acceptable diet (apart from breast milk).

Fig 7.7: Age appropriate Breastfeeding (0-23 months)

Age-appropriate breastfeeding was defined as proportion of children 0–23 months of age who were appropriately breastfed. The proportion of age- appropriate breastfeeding child-ren was 64.2 percent in Pakistan. Similar trends were recorded both in urban and rural areas. Except FATA, all other provinces showed higher trends with highest in Gilgit (75.4 %).


Chapter 8: FOOD INTAKE & PRACTICES Dietary intake of the target groups is one component of this survey. In NNS 2011 the survey team obtained the dietary information administrating the dietary section from the target households.. Therefore, information on dietary intake has been obtained on two selected members of the household, a child 0-23 months of age and his/her mother. Dietary pattern and the food/nutrient intake of these two members were determined using food frequency for a given period of time in combination with the 24-hour recall for the previous day. Fre-quencies indicate the consumption pattern and use of selective food groups over a given period of time (number of days per week and number of times per day). The 24-hour recall provides estimation on food intake during the previous day and its conversion in to nu-trients giving estimated nutrients availability, using food composition tables. Section 1: Food consumption in Children 0-23 months of age: When we estimated the share of calories and other nutrients following was revealed Energy: The 0-23 months children in Pakistan are utilizing 692.2 K.Cal/day, the urban population was consuming 852.7 K.Cal/day whereas the rural population was consuming 691.4 K.Cal/day. When the energy intake was observed provincially it was revealed that the consumption of energy in children in Punjab was utilizing 615.9 K.Cal, in Sindh was 715.7 K.Cal/day, in KPK 939 K.Cal/day, in Baluchistan 1165 K.Cal/day, in FATA 998.3 K.Cal/day, in AJK 815.5 K.Cal/day and in Gilgit 563.4 K.Cal/day. Proteins: When the data was assessed for Protein consumption it was revealed that the children in Pakistan were consuming an average of 26.8 grams of protein/day. In urban areas the con-sumption of proteins was 30.7 grams compared to 24.8 grams/day in rural areas. When the Protein intake was determined on the provincial basis it was found that the consumption of protein in Punjab was 23.9 gm/day, in Sindh it was 25.4 gm/day, in KPK it was 40.4 gm/day, in Baluchistan it was 47.4 gm/day, in FATA it was 48.4 gm/day, in AJK it was 27 gm/day and in Gilgit it was 21.6 gm/day. Fats The dietary data was assessed for Fat utilization it was discovered that the children in Pakis-tan were consuming an average of 20.5 gm of fats/day. In urban areas the consumption of proteins was 26.8 grams compared to 17.7 grams/day in rural areas. When the Fat intake was assessed on the provincial basis it was found that the consumption of fats in Punjab was 21.7 gm/day, in Sindh it was 18.6 gm/day, in KPK it was 14.2 gm/day, in Baluchistan it was 26.7 gm/day, in FATA it was 27.7 gm/day, in AJK it was 26.3 gm/day and in Gilgit it was 12.2 gm/day.


Carbohydrates: When the data was assessed for Carbohydrate consumption it was revealed that the child-ren in Pakistan were consuming an average of 78.8 gm of carbohydrates/day. In urban areas the consumption of carbohydrates was 94.3 grams compared to 71.2 grams/day in rural areas. When the Carbohydrate consumption was determined on the provincial basis it was found that the consumption of carbohydrates in Punjab was 63.9 gm/day, in Sindh it was 87.2 gm/day, in KPK it was 118.4 gm/day, in Baluchistan it was 148.1 gm/day, in FATA it was 135.1 gm/day, in AJK it was 96.1 gm/day and in Gilgit it was 80.7 gm/day. Calcium: When the data was assessed for daily calcium intake it was revealed that the children in Pa-kistan were consuming an average of 607.5 mg of calcium/day. In urban areas the consump-tion of calcium was 654.3 mg compared to 584.5 mg/day in rural areas. When the calcium intake was determined on the provincial basis it was found that the consumption of calcium in Punjab was 637 mg/day, in Sindh it was 460 mg/day, in KPK it was 714.2 mg/day, in Balu-chistan it was 853.3 mg/day, in FATA it was 734.7 mg/day, in AJK it was 675.8 mg/day and in Gilgit it was 396.5 mg/day. Iron: When the data was assessed for Iron consumption it was revealed that the children in Pakis-tan were consuming an average of 11.7mg of iron /day. In urban areas the consumption of proteins was 13 mg compared to 11.1 mg/day in rural areas. When the Iron intake was de-termined on the provincial basis it was established that the consumption of iron in Punjab was 8.4 mg/day, in Sindh it was 13.1 mg/day, in KPK it was 24.7 mg/day, in Baluchistan it was 29 mg/day, in FATA it was 29.2 mg/day, in AJK it was 7.8 mg/day and in Gilgit it was 12.3 mg /day. Zinc: The dietary data was also assessed for daily zinc intake it was found that the children in Pa-kistan were consuming an average of 2.8 mg of Zinc/day. In urban areas the consumption of zinc was 3.2 mg compared to 2.6 mg/day in rural areas. When the zinc intake was deter-mined on the provincial basis it was found that the consumption of zinc in Punjab was 2.3 mg/day, in Sindh it was 3.0 mg/day, in KPK it was 4.6 mg/day, in Baluchistan it was 5.6 mg/day, in FATA it was 5.4 mg/day, in AJK it was 2.3 mg/day and in Gilgit it was 2.4 mg/day. Vitamin C: The dietary data was also assessed for daily Vitamin C intake it was revealed that the child-ren in Pakistan were consuming an average of 21.2 mg of Vitamin-C /day. In urban areas the consumption of vitamin C was 36.3 mg compared to 13.7 mg/day in rural areas. When the vitamin C intake was determined on the provincial basis it was found that the consumption of vitamin C in Punjab was 11.4 mg/day, in Sindh it was 36.7 mg/day, in KPK it was 18.8


mg/day, in Baluchistan it was 57.8 mg/day, in FATA it was 7.8 mg/day, in AJK it was 38.5 mg/day and in Gilgit it was 23.8 mg/day. Table 8.1: Share of Calories & Nutrients - Children (0-23 months)


Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Baluchis-tan FATA AJK Gilgit

Energy (K.cal) 696.2 852.7 619.4 615.9 715.7 939.7 1165.0 998.3 815.5 563.4

Protein (gm) 26.8 30.7 24.8 23.9 25.4 40.4 47.4 48.4 27.0 21.6

Fats (gm)

20.5 26.8 17.7 21.7 18.6 14.2 26.7 27.7 26.3 12.2

Carbohy-drate (gm)

78.8 94.3 71.2 63.9 87.2 118.4 148.1 135.1 96.1 80.7

Calcium (mg) 607.5 654.3 584.5 637.0 460.8 714.2 835.3 734.7 675.8 396.5

Iron (mg) 11.7 13.0 11.1 8.4 13.1 24.7 29.0 29.2 7.8 12.3

Zn (mg) 2.8 3.2 2.6 2.3 3.0 4.6 5.6 5.4 2.3 2.4

Vit.C (mg) 21.2 36.3 13.7 11.4 36.7 18.8 57.8 7.8 38.5 23.8

N 6761 2882 3879 3489 1637 435 493 60 440 207

Comparison of Nutrient Intake with the RDA When the data was compared with the daily dietary allowance it was revealed that the children were consuming almost half of the recommended daily energy, the utilization of protein was more than the RDA, the consumption of carbohydrates and fats was lower that the RDA. When the micronutrients were compared with the RDAs it was revealed that the consumption of calcium was more than the RDA whereas the consumption of Iron was al-most equal to the RDA, the consumption of zinc was lower than the RDA while the con-sumption of Vitamin C was higher than the RDA. Table: 8.2: Comparison of Nutrient Intake with the RDA

Nutrient Pakistan NNS 2011

Urban NNS 2011

Rural NNS 2011 RDA

Energy (K.cal) 696.2 852.7 619.4 1200 Protein (gm) 26.8 30.7 24.8 13 Fats (gm) 20.5 26.8 17.7 30 Carbohydrate(gm) 78.8 94.3 71.2 100 Calcium (mg) 607.5 654.3 584.5 500 Iron (mg) 11.7 13.0 11.1 11 Zn (mg) 2.8 3.2 2.6 3 Vit.C (mg) 21.2 36.3 13.7 15


Utilization of Food Groups: The dietary data of children 0-23 months was further analyzed for the utilization of various food groups and it was revealed that the utilization of average wheat per day among child-ren of this age group was 14.1 gm, 15.0 gm in urban areas and 13.6 gm in rural areas, the utilization of wheat was found to be pretty low about 6 grams in KPK and Gilgit. The average utilization of rice was 11.2 grams in children of 0-23 months of age in Pakistan, 12.7 grams in urban areas and 10.5 grams in rural areas. Sindh had the lowest utilization of rice in this age group. The average utilization of pulses was 15.8 grams, 26.1 grams from urban areas and 11.1 grams from rural areas. Gilgit had the lowest utilization of pulses. Egg utilization was found to be 1.6 grams, 2.9 grams from urban areas and 1.0 grams from rural areas. The utilization of egg was almost the same in all provinces except Gilgit where it is a bit high up to 4.1 grams. The average utilization of meat in this group was 1.8 grams/day, 2.1 from urban areas and 1.6 grams from rural areas. Surprisingly FATA had the highest 27.2 grams utilization of meat compared to the rest of the provinces. The average utilization of vegetables in this group was 5 grams/day, 6.5 grams in urban areas and 4.3 grams in rural areas, on provincial estimation it was found that Baluchistan had the highest 13.5 grams and AJK had the lowest 1.3 grams intake of vegetables. The average utilization of fruits was 6.1 grams/day, 9.2 grams in urban areas and 4.7 grams in rural areas. FATA had the maximum utilization of fruits which was 32.4 grams/day Table 8.3: Consumption of Food Groups

Food Groups Pakistan Residence Province / Region

Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Baluchis-tan FATA AJK Gilgit

Wheat (gm) 14.1 15.0 13.6 14.9 15.7 6.1 12.7 20.2 12.9 6.0

Rice (gm) 11.2 12.7 10.5 10.6 9.9 13.0 12.1 28.3 23.5 12.3

Pulses (gm) 15.8 26.1 11.1 10.1 22.8 26.8 27.9 16.2 11.0 4.2

Egg (gm) 1.6 2.9 1.0 1.3 1.6 3.0 1.3 2.1 2.3 4.1

Meat (gm) 1.8 2.1 1.6 1.1 1.4 1.7 8.9 27.2 2.0 1.3

Milk (ml) 162.1 171.8 157.8 209.5 84.7 92.9 139.1 163.7 189.9 62.1

Vegetable (gm) 5.0 6.5 4.3 4.0 4.9 7.6 13.5 4.7 1.3 7.3

Tea (ml) 15.1 15.5 14.9 9.5 16.4 26.7 50.9 73.2 4.0 16.8

Fruits (gm) 6.1 9.2 4.7 6.4 3.7 7.7 3.9 32.4 12.9 3.3

others (gm) 2.9 4.6 2.2 2.7 2.3 3.7 4.1 20.8 3.5 1.3

N 6761 2882 3879 3489 1637 435 493 60 440 207

The data was also analyzed for the consumption of milk and tea; it was found that the aver-age utilization of milk in 0-23 month’s old children was 162.1 ml/day, 171.8 ml in urban areas and 157.8 in rural areas. The maximum utilization of milk was in Punjab 209.5 ml while the minimum was in Gilgit 62.1 ml. Similarly on an average these children were utilizing 15.1


ml of tea, 15.5 ml in urban areas and 14.9 in rural areas. The maximum utilization of tea was in FATA and minimum was in AJK. Section 2: Food consumption in Mothers of Index Child: The Share of Calories and other nutrients were estimated for the mothers of index child, fol-lowing is the description. Energy: The mothers of index child in Pakistan were utilizing 1984 K.Cal/day, the urban population was consuming 2073.4 K.Cal/day whereas the rural population was consuming 1949.8 K.Cal/day. When the energy intake was observed provincially it was revealed that the con-sumption of energy in children in Punjab was utilizing 1854 K.Cal, in Sindh was 1855 K.Cal/day, in KPK 2414 K.Cal/day, in Baluchistan 2098.6 K.Cal/day, in FATA 2283.8 K.Cal/day, in AJK 2094.5 K.Cal/day and in Gilgit 2155 K.Cal/day. Proteins: When the data was assessed for Protein consumption it was revealed that the mothers of index child were consuming an average of 87.8 grams of protein/day. In urban areas the consumption of proteins was 92.9 grams compared to 85.8 grams/day in rural areas. When the Protein intake was determined on the provincial basis it was found that the consump-tion of protein in Punjab was 81.1 gm/day, in Sindh it was 84.3 gm/day, in KPK it was 103.3 gm/day, in Baluchistan it was 98.8 gm/day, in FATA it was 104.8 gm/day, in AJK it was 91 gm/day and in Gilgit it was 95.9 gm/day. Fats The dietary data was assessed for Fat utilization it was discovered that the mother of index child were consuming an average of 37.5 gm of fats/day. In urban areas the consumption of proteins was 43.5 grams compared to 35.1 grams/day in rural areas. When the Fat intake was assessed on the provincial basis it was found that the consumption of fats in Punjab was 34.3 gm/day, in Sindh it was 28.8 gm/day, in KPK it was 60.4 gm/day, in Baluchistan it was 27.8 gm/day, in FATA it was 47.5 gm/day, in AJK it was 35.5 gm/day and in Gilgit it was 31.7 gm/day. Carbohydrates: When the data was assessed for Carbohydrate consumption it was revealed that the moth-ers of index children were consuming an average of 349/3 gm of carbohydrates/day. In ur-ban areas the consumption of carbohydrates was 351.7 grams compared to 348.4 grams/day in rural areas. When the Carbohydrate consumption was determined on the pro-vincial basis it was found that the consumption of carbohydrates in Punjab was 327.1 gm/day, in Sindh it was 339 gm/day, in KPK it was 398.5 gm/day, in Baluchistan it was 393.8


gm/day, in FATA it was 386.9 gm/day, in AJK it was 376.3 gm/day and in Gilgit it was 398.6 gm/day. Calcium: When the data was assessed for daily calcium intake it was revealed that the mothers of in-dex children were consuming an average of 953.2 mg of calcium/day. In urban areas the consumption of calcium was 977.8 mg compared to 943.6 mg/day in rural areas. When the calcium intake was determined on the provincial basis it was found that the consumption of calcium in Punjab was 922.3 mg/day, in Sindh it was 924.5 mg/day, in KPK it was 1014.9 mg/day, in Baluchistan it was 1062.5 mg/day, in FATA it was 1066.6 mg/day, in AJK it was 956.4 mg/day and in Gilgit it was 1058.8 mg/day. Iron: When the data was assessed for Iron consumption it was revealed that the mothers of index children were consuming an average of 60.2 mg of iron /day. In urban areas the consump-tion of proteins was 60.9 mg compared to 59.9 mg/day in rural areas. When the Iron intake was determined on the provincial basis it was established that the consumption of iron in Punjab was 54.4 mg/day, in Sindh it was 58.9 mg/day, in KPK it was 71.5 mg/day, in Balu-chistan it was 71.3 mg/day, in FATA it was 70.4 mg/day, in AJK it was 63.6 mg/day and in Gilgit it was 68.4 mg /day. Zinc: The dietary data was also assessed for daily zinc intake it was found that the mothers of in-dex children were consuming an average of 13.9 mg of Zinc/day. In urban areas the con-sumption of zinc was 13.8 mg compared to 13.9 mg/day in rural areas. When the zinc intake was determined on the provincial basis it was found that the consumption of zinc in Punjab was 12.9 mg/day, in Sindh it was 13.0 mg/day, in KPK it was 16.6 mg/day, in Baluchistan it was 16.2 mg/day, in FATA it was 16.1 mg/day, in AJK it was 14.2 mg/day and in Gilgit it was 15.9 mg/day. Vitamin C: The dietary data was also assessed for daily Vitamin C intake it was revealed that the moth-ers of index children were consuming an average of 32.2 mg of Vitamin-C /day. In urban areas the consumption of vitamin C was 32.1 mg compared to 32.2 mg/day in rural areas. When the vitamin C intake was determined on the provincial basis it was found that the consumption of vitamin C in Punjab was 34.7 mg/day, in Sindh it was 28.6 mg/day, in KPK it was 31.5 mg/day, in Baluchistan it was 38.8 mg/day, in FATA it was 21.2 mg/day, in AJK it was 31.2 mg/day and in Gilgit it was 27.4 mg/day.


Table 8.4: Share of Calories & Nutrients - Mothers


Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Baluchis-tan

FATA AJK Gilgit

Energy (K.cal) 1984.5 2073.4 1949.8 1854.0 1855.3 2414 2098 2283.8 2094.8 2155

Protein (gm)

87.8 92.9 85.8 81.1 84.3 103.3 98.8 104.8 91.0 95.9

Fats (gm) 37.5 43.5 35.1 34.3 28.8 60.4 27.8 47.5 35.5 31.7

Carbohy-drate(gm) 349.3 351.7 348.4 327.1 339.0 398.5 393.9 386.9 376.3 398.6

Calcium (mg) 953.2 977.8 943.6 922.3 924.5 1015 1062.5 1066.6 956.4 1058.8

Iron (mg) 60.2 60.9 59.9 54.4 58.9 71.5 71.3 70.4 63.6 68.4

Zn (mg) 13.9 13.8 13.9 12.9 13.0 16.6 16.2 16.1 14.2 15.9

Vit.C (mg) 32.2 32.1 32.2 34.7 28.6 31.5 38.8 21.2 31.2 27.4

N 17324 6527 10797 7112 4186 2432 1484 881 820 409

Comparison of Nutrient Intake with the RDA When the data was compared with the daily dietary allowance it was revealed that the mothers of index children were consuming less energy of the recommended daily energy, the utilization of protein was more than the RDA, the consumption of carbohydrates is twice as higher than the RDA whereas the utilization of fats was also a bit higher than that of the RDA. Calcium intake is a bit lower than that of the RDA while the intake of iron and zinc is higher than that of the RDA. The women were consuming less vitamin C compared to the recommendations. Table 8.5: Comparison of Nutrient Intake with the RDA

Nutrient Pakistan NNS 2011

Urban NNS 2011

Rural NNS 2011

RDA

Energy (K.cal) 1984.5 2073.4 1949.8 2100

Protein (gm) 87.8 92.9 85.8 50

Fats (gm) 37.5 43.5 35.1 30

Carbohydrate(gm) 349.3 351.7 348.4 130

Calcium (mg) 953.2 977.8 943.6 1000

Iron (mg) 60.2 60.9 59.9 18

Zn (mg) 13.9 13.8 13.9 10

Vit.C (mg) 32.2 32.1 32.2 75


Utilization of Food Groups: The dietary data of mothers of index children was further analyzed for the utilization of var-ious food groups and it was revealed that the utilization of average wheat per day among mothers was 215.4 gm, 211 gm in urban areas and 217 gm in rural areas, the utilization of wheat was found to be pretty low about 156.2 grams in KPK, where as it was found stable in the rest of the provinces. The average utilization of rice was 52.9 grams in mothers of index children, 67.4 grams in urban areas and 47.3 grams in rural areas. KPK had the lowest utiliza-tion of rice in this group. The average utilization of pulses was 42.7 grams, 50.6 grams from urban areas and 39.6 grams from rural areas. Gilgit had the lowest utilization of pulses while in rest of the provinces the average utilization of pulses was almost the same. Egg utilization was found to be 4.6 grams, 7.4 grams from urban areas and 3.5 grams from rural areas. The utilization of egg was almost the same in all provinces except KPK where it is a bit high up to 7.9 grams. The average utilization of meat in the mothers of index children was 46.9 grams/day, 61.1 from urban areas and 41.3 grams from rural areas. FATA had the highest 82.6 grams utilization of meat whereas Gilgit had lowest utilization 17.0 gm com-pared to the rest of the provinces. The average utilization of Tubers and roots in mothers of index children was found to be 51.9 gm/day, 41.4 gm in urban areas and 56.1 gm in rural areas. Sindh had the maximum utilization of tubers and roots followed by Baluchistan and rest of the provinces, whereas Gilgit had lowest utilization. The average utilization of vegetables in this group was 106.8 grams/day, 105.8 grams in urban areas and 107.2 grams in rural areas, on provincial estima-tion it was found that KPK had the highest 123.3 grams followed Punjab and rest of the provinces lowest utilization of vegetables was in Sindh and Gilgit. The average utilization of fruits was 26.5 grams/day, 33.1 grams in urban areas and 23.9 grams in rural areas. AJK, Gil-git and FATA had the maximum utilization of fruits respectively. Minimum utilization of fruits was observed in Sindh. The data was also analyzed for the consumption of milk and tea; it was found that the aver-age utilization of milk in mothers of index children was 115.6 ml/day, 90.9 ml in urban areas and 125.2 in rural areas. The maximum utilization of milk was in Punjab 152.7 ml while the minimum was in KPK 58.7 ml. The data was also analyzed for the tea consumption and it was explored that the average utilization of tea in mothers of index children was 144.9 ml/day, 149.9 in urban areas and 142.9 in rural areas. This utilization of tea was more than the utilization of milk in this age group. When the data was analyzed on provincial basis it was revealed that the maximum average utilization of tea was in Baluchistan followed by FATA, KPK, Gilgit and AJK.


Table 8.6: Consumption of food groups

Food Groups Pakistan Residence Province / Region


Wheat (gm) 215.4 211.5 217.0 242.6 208.0 156.2 188.8 192.3 271.3 198.7

Rice (gm) 52.9 67.4 47.3 47.5 69.1 42.8 46.1 50.4 85.1 48.2

Pulses & Legumes (gm) 42.7 50.6 39.6 45.1 42.7 35.6 39.0 47.0 46.1 29.1

Meat (gm) 46.9 61.1 41.3 40.6 41.2 63.2 54.9 82.6 37.8 17.0

Egg (gm)

4.6 7.4 3.5 4.0 3.4 7.9 3.7 5.9 4.9 5.9

Tuber & Roots (gm) 51.9 41.4 56.1 44.6 74.3 47.4 63.7 24.0 30.9 15.7

Vegetables (gm) 106.8 105.8 107.2 119.0 77.2 123.3 103.7 93.1 94.4 77.9

Fruits (gm) 26.5 33.1 23.9 29.3 16.7 21.6 35.0 41.3 53.0 51.1

Milk / Milk Products (ml) 115.6 90.9 125.2 152.7 89.6 58.7 96.7 121.3 72.4 103.7

Tea (ml) 144.9 149.9 142.9 122.7 153.2 173.1 182.1 177.9 154.8 167.6

others (gm) 4.3 6.3 3.6 4.0 5.7 3.7 4.0 3.0 1.7 16.7

N 17324 6527 10797 7112 4186 2432 1484 881 820 409


Chapter 9: ELDER PERSONS HEALTH STATUS Studies suggest that people's perceptions of their own health generally gives a good indica-tion of their mental and physical condition and are also predictors of mortality for those aged 50 and over. There are a number of factors which are known to have an impact on the general health of the population and which can contribute to an increased risk of diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. These factors include cigarette smoking, exces-sive alcohol and fat consumption, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, limited exer-cise and being overweight. Elder people mostly spend time taking care of their health, whether it is preventive or on-going care, or attention to a specific health problem. In the NNS 2011, elder persons were exclusively interviewed to determine the health status of old-age population in Pakistan. In all 7612 elder person were interviewed at their resi-dence. Fig 9.1: Age distribution of Elderly Persons

There were 30.4 percent male and 69.6 female respondents in this sample because mostly women were at their home during day-time. Majority of the elder population belonged to the age-group 50-59 years (42.4 %), 46.3 percent urban and 40.6 percent rural. In FATA 86.4 percent elder persons belonged to this age-group.


Figure 9.2: Gender distribution of Elderly persons

Table 9.1: Morbidities of Elderly persons

Illnesses Pakistan Residence Province / Region

Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Balochistan FATA AJK Gilgit

Arthritis 49.3 45.5 51.0 52.5 51.8 26.0 61.6 35.8 64.6 60.7

Congestive heart failure 4.9 4.8 5.0 4.9 6.0 2.7 9.0 5.4 5.0 2.3

Coronary heart disease 2.2 3.2 1.8 2.2 3.1 1.6 1.5 3.2 3.5 0.1

Angina 9.1 8.8 9.3 8.0 12.5 7.4 21.1 10.0 11.5 1.4

Heart Attack 3.1 4.3 2.5 3.2 2.8 2.5 2.6 6.7 5.2 1.8

Stroke 2.9 2.8 2.9 3.0 2.4 2.3 3.8 5.8 3.2 0.7

Emphysema 1.5 1.6 1.4 1.4 2.4 0.7 1.2 2.3 1.2 0.0

Thyroid Problem 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.9 1.5 1.6 3.6 4.1 2.2

Chronic bronchitis 9.9 8.4 10.6 10.4 11.4 4.4 17.9 13.8 6.0 14.0

Liver disorder 5.4 5.2 5.4 5.6 5.3 4.9 4.2 9.4 4.2 0.5

Hypertension 39.4 44.3 37.2 38.3 36.2 45.4 42.1 50.2 46.5 34.7

Diabetes Mellitus 14.0 20.3 11.1 14.4 12.7 15.5 9.9 14.3 9.6 3.9

Urinary Complains 10.2 10.1 10.2 11.1 10.5 5.6 9.5 8.3 11.7 13.1

N 7612 3135 4477 4289 1118 1053 417 83 392 260

Elder persons were found suffering from chronic illnesses. Fifty percent of the elderly popu-lation was suffering from arthritis followed by hypertension (39.4%), heart disease (19.4


percent), diabetes (14%) and urinary complains (10.2%). In AJK alone 64.6 percent elderly population suffered from arthritis. Body Mass Index The results showed that 46.1 percent elder persons were maintaining normal weight while 24.2 per-cent were overweight and 12.9 percent were obese. In FATA 33.3 percent population of elder per-cent was overweight. Table 9.2: Body Mass Index of Elderly person

BMI Total Residence Province / Region

Urban Rural Punjab Sindh KPK Balochistan FATA AJK Gilgit

<16 4.7 2.5 5.7 5.1 5.7 2.4 4.7 0 5.4 2.3

16-16.99 3.4 1.6 4.2 3.6 4 1.2 5.7 0 5.7 1.6

17-18.49 7.7 4 9.4 8.4 7.7 3.9 9.2 0 9.9 11.9

18.5-24.99 46.1 37.5 49.9 46.3 46.2 43.2 48.2 19.3 51.9 61.6

25-29.99 24.2 31.4 21 23.8 22.1 30 19.4 47.4 19.1 18.3

30-39.99 12.8 21 9.3 11.8 13.5 18.4 10.5 33.3 7.8 3.6

>=40 1 2 0.6 1.1 0.8 0.9 2.4 0 0.1 0.7

N 6700 2717 3983 3776 1048 924 294 30 378 250

In context to loss of appetite, primarily there are three levels severe, moderate and normal. Overall 29.2 percent of the elders reported moderate decrease and 15.9 percent severe de-crease in appetite. In Sindh, moderate loss of appetite was the highest (35.6%) while it was lowest in Gilgit (14.5%) however 19.9 percent elders in Gilgit suffered from severe loss of appetite. Fig 9.3: Loss of Appetite Elderly person


Nationwide 49.5 percent elderly were unaware of any weight loss in past three months. 32.4 percent elders confirmed that they did not lose weight. However 10 percent stated 1-3 kg weight loss during last three months. Fig 9.4: Weight loss in Elderly person (by recall)

Mobility plays an integral role in maintaining good health status. In Pakistan majority of eld-ers 85.5 percent went out for minor work, 11 percent were able to get off from bed or chair but did not go out of their homes. Only 3.6 percent elders were bed ridden or had severe restriction of movement due to chronic illness.


Chapter 10: QUALITATIVE COMPONENT OF NNS 2011 (KEY FINDINGS) The purpose of qualitative component of NNS 2011 was to describe and explore the nutri-tion and food behavior of women and children of different cultural settings living across the Pakistan. The overall aim of this study was to identify nutrition behavior about children feeding pattern and dietary practices. These factors include breastfeeding, the connection between diet, disease and health, beliefs about certain foods, dietary practices, consump-tion of local versus imported foods, and other factors relating to food choices. In the NNS 2011, we used both important methods of qualitative research; focus groups discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews (IDIs). Qualitative Results Motherhood The results revealed that a child’s mental as well as physical well-being are interdependent and has direct impact on their diet. Participants from all sites were of the view that child’s emotional state is determined through observation of verbal and non-verbal communication and behavior. They also showed an understanding that well-being of their child is depend on providing healthy food, quality education and hygienic environment. Children’s Need, Pre-lacteal Feeding and Breastfeeding Almost all participants across the Pakistan were unanimously said “The breast milk is the first need of child immediate after birth” which has been now practicing in all parts of the country. “If initiation of early breasting is avoided then there should have been certain rea-sons behind – either no or insufficient milk or mother or baby was ill” or “Working mothers in urban area do not breastfeed to maintain their physic and introduce top feed immediate-ly following birth”. However, the traditional practice of pre-lacteal feeding (Ghutti) still con-tinues and cannot be avoided due centuries’ old practice. Probing revealed that “Honey” is used as the first pre-lacteal feed across the country. The cultural variation also existed; oth-er forms of pre-lacteal feed included “Gurr” (Jaggery) more commonly given in Northern Punjab, clarified butter in Northern Punjab/KP/Gilgit-Baltistan, fennel-flavored sherbet also given in KP. It was an astonishing finding that besides water “Donkey’s milk, which is per-ceived to prevent epilepsy, is also given, in Gilgit Baltistan”, albeit by the minority. Mother-in-law still influences the decision regarding lactation, (stated by majority across all regions) however husband, and elders, especially in Upper Sindh, Balochistan and Southern Punjab have more influence. Those who are least involved in decision making were mothers themselves (Except working mothers in urban area), their own mothers. Medical practition-ers were of view that now the behavior is changing and mothers did start understanding of the benefits of early initiation of breastfeeding.


Exclusive Breastfeeding Majority of the participants revealed “The duration of exclusive breastfeeding for children is from birth up to 6 months”. The regions where this is commonly practiced were KP and Ba-lochistan and not fully practiced in Sindh, Punjab, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir. An interesting revelation was made during discussions in Upper Sindh where the community believed the age of exclusive breastfeeding depends on the seasons, which ac-cording to them are 6 months in winter and less duration in the summer. Advantages of Lactation Participants were also asked about the advantages of lactation. Majority of the Participants across the country without any cultural consideration believed that it prevents child from illness and strengthens immunity. Similarly, they also said “It is convenient and readily avail-able”. Disadvantages of Top Feed Participants were asked about the disadvantages of top feeds (not giving breast milk) to their children. Majority of the participants in all cities reported that no-breastfeeding causes infections, indigestion and weaken the child’s immune system. Few participants in women FGDS considered “Preparation of top milk as time consuming” and “Difficult to maintain hy-giene all the times”. Few participants in Balochistan and KP said “Preparation of milk is time consuming and inconvenient which also causes psychological hurt to the hungry baby if not immediately fed’. Introduction of Complementary Feeding There was not variation was found on the basis of cultural diversities across the Pakistan in the introduction of complementary diet also practicing breastfeeding. However the ingre-dients varied from place to place on the basis of affordability. “We are poor and cannot af-ford special complementary diet for our children – we feed them what we cooked for our-selves” remarked by the parents in the Southern Punjab and Upper Sindh. Age introduction of complimentary diet showed divided opinion, while sizeable participants said from the 4th month but majority believed the introduction of solid / semi-solid food for children from the 6th month. The complementary foods were told in long detail but major were semolina, egg, rice, bread, sago, rice and milk dessert (kheer), buttermilk, banana, tea, porridge, chapatti, potato curry, lentils, meat and broth, fish and vegetables. Milk referred to either breast milk or fresh or powdered milk as top feed. Breastfeeding and Complementary Food Duration Duration of breasting along with complementary foods differs largely in different cultural settings. In Lower Sindh is 1.5 to 2 years or until the mother conceives at the time of lacta-tion, until 2 years in Balochistan and Northern Punjab, 1 year in Southern Punjab and Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) and 2 to 3 years in Gilgit Baltistan. In KP, duration of lactation men-


tioned 2 years for male and 2.5 years for female child. Care providers also confirmed that the duration for girls is less for girls, (1.5 to 2 years) and more for boys (2 to 2.5 years). Perception regarding Health and Illness (Mother and Child) Participants were asked about the common illnesses in children. Majority of the participant across the country reported fever, cough, diarrhea and intestinal worms. When asked about the perception of health and illness regarding the women majority mothers said “Until we are able to perform household chores and care of children then considered healthy”. Many participants of all FGDs said in consensus that “If a woman is not looking pale and has ener-gy for performing her routine responsibilities of household work she is healthy”. Rheumatic pains, swelling, leucorrhea, backache, lower body pain, blood pressure, irregular menstrua-tion were mentioned by the majority of participants the major illnesses of women. However participants of Upper Sindh and Southern Punjab mentioned that most of the women are suffering from health problem due to low or insufficient diet. “We do not have enough food to eat”. “We are poor cannot afford eating as desired”. Even if “We fell sick we cannot af-ford outside care except to use some home remedies for our treatment”. When asked about the methods of treatment, majority of participants in all FGDS said “If not so serious than some self-medication is done from the leftover drugs”. “We consult the nearby health care provider” was also mentioned by the participants. LHWs remarked “Women called us for taking advice”. On the other hand, same question was asked about the trained health professionals. According to them majority does not follow doctors’ advice and when they do, it is only until the time of recovery from illness. In some communities of Gilgit Baltistan and KPK, majority women were only permitted to consult ‘lady’ doctors due to the cultural barriers. Alternative treatments include traditional practices such as advice from elders, spiritual hea-lers and unskilled birth attendants (dais) or home remedies. For instance, in Balochistan, upper Sindh, AJK and Gilgit treatment for leucorrhea is a mixture comprising cardamom, ginger and lemon, which is consumed for a week Psychological Care of Children The pediatricians and gynecologist interviewed stated that the dietary intake of mother and child and the suffocated environment around like poverty, not affordability of food to eat, intra family disputes, and physical violence affected their mental well-being and also on physical fitness. The Gynecologist in AJK told “All issues pervading in the Pakistani society are directly affecting women and children. The most severe are domestic violence; inter spouse conflict, unemployed youths and food insecurity”. Other care providers stated that preference of male members within the household starting from birth, drug and alcohol ad-diction of husband, fertility problems because of early marriage made the women psychic and they cannot provide the desired psychosocial care to their children and this vicious cir-


cle continuing producing non-productive population in society which may lead to social anarchism Differences in Dietary Intake between Girls and Adult women According to the medical practitioners interviewed during the survey, younger women all over the country are consuming fast food where available and unhealthy junk food like chips in rural area too. Incidentally, this contradicts high level of awareness and nutrition educa-tion present in the younger generations than the older. Older, mature women are more health conscious. On the other hand rest of the participant in almost all FGDs across the country said “Eating on choice is almost not existing” “There has been many weeks that we cannot eat meat”. “We just think that we should eat something to survive no matter some vegetables or lentils” In AJK all LHWS and Male Decision Makers were of the view that “Some families even cannot afford vegetables and lentils and pass their days on potatoes only”. Same findings were repeated in forcefully in Upper Sindh and Southern Punjab. So it revealed that food insecurity among the families across the Pakistan leaves no choice on desired dietary intake. Intra Household Food Distribution Results revealed contradictory statements between communities across the country and health care providers (Lady Health Workers/medical practitioners) working in the regions. Community statements were that there was equality distribution of food in proportions and quantity. If someone takes more food was on basis of hunger rather than any discriminatory reason. Women participant of FGDs gave a different scenario. The traditional and cultural taboo of male chauvinism also worked there. Women participants insisted to serve men first on the basis that they (The men) work outside, do more labor and spent hours and hours for earn-ing livelihood for their family. In AJK and Karachi some participants said that young girls are treated with partiality in food distribution in the family because they are regarded as future mothers who require extra nutrients. “Now here the girls are more clever and do not allow their brothers to eat more than them”. However in case of food shortage children are priori-tized. The care providers were not in agreement with opinion of FGDs’ participant. They unanim-ously said females are still neglected in their households, and males are given preference over them. This was the main reason why females frequently suffer from nutrient deficien-cies and illnesses such as anemia. All women consult them for treatment complained of general physical weakness, for which they are commonly prescribed iron/folic acid/vitamin supplements, because girls are either not given a proper diet or themselves do not eat well because they are busy tending to children or in the household chores or contributing in some way to meet the financial needs of the family.


Common Perception and Physiological Effects of “Hot”/“Cold” Food The general perception in regions is based on food are either hot or cold and precaution should be observed when consuming them. ‘Hot’ and ‘Cold’ refer, in the literal sense, to consuming food-containing properties that affect the body’s digestive system. Hot food is generally perceived to cause gastric problems that can be passed onto the children directly or through pregnant and lactating women. Cold food is generally perceived to cause or ag-gravate influenza during wintertime. Common perception in all regions: eggplant, bitter gourd and meat have a ‘hot’ effect. Cold food includes vegetables, raw mango, rice and lentils in Lower Sindh, Zucchini, Okra and Pumpkin in Upper Sindh, spinach, carrot and cucumber in Balochistan, pumpkin in Southern Punjab, lentils, and dairy products and Apricot extract in Gilgit. Hot food includes seafood in Lower and Upper Sindh, meat in Upper Sindh, Northern and Southern Punjab and Gilgit Baltistan, okra in Southern Punjab, AJK, green vegetables in Southern Punjab, clarified butter and eggs in GB, lentils in GB/AJK and soup, spinach and spices in AJK. Purchasing Practices – Local versus Imported Food All participants of all FGDs and IDIs across the country despite of cultural and ethnic back-ground unanimously said that they do not purchase imported foods. “Participants in Upper Sindh, Southern Punjab, AJK, KP and Balochistan said “We cannot afford local foods due to high price then can we opt for imported foods which are more costly”. Eating out is either infrequent or almost nil mostly in middle and low-income groups. Home cooked meals were preferred in community segments because (i) they cost less and (ii) are fresh compared to pre-packaged/imported food. Results from Karachi showed “We prefer to eat at home and buy local foods” However few participants of Karachi, AJK, Hub, Jhelum said that “Some-times we purchased packed foreign foods”. The weekly grocery expenses per month region wise on a minimum to maximum range area PKR 3000 to 12000 in Gilgit Baltistan, PKR 2000 to 5000 in Lower Sindh and AJK, PKR 1800 to 5000 in Balochistan, PKR 1000 to 5000 in Southern Punjab, PKR 1000 to 7000 in Upper Sindh, Northern Punjab, KPK and Central Pun-jab. Purchasing Practices – Foods and Affordability The purchasing of food stuff varied a lot among the regions from daily, weekly, monthly or on a fortnightly basis especially vegetables and even food needed to cook daily. The fre-quency of purchasing grocery depends firstly on availability of the refrigerators and as such food cannot be stocked for long. Secondly, depend upon preference toward fresh rather than stocked food. Above all on the “Availability of money”, mostly laborer and working people cannot afford to but things in bulk. Participants of FGDs in parts of Pakistan said “Day by day it is becoming so difficult to meet our daily basic needs – we cannot eat at full”.


Again in Upper Sindh and Southern Punjab participants said that “Sometimes we have to prefer children in foods because of shortage – so elders sacrifice” the Female and male participants stated it is generally men who are mainly responsible for food purchase and ex-penditure. Food Safety – Thawing and Food Storage Cooked food rarely stored in the low-income communities, because they have large families with several children, most people do not have a refrigerator and even do not afford to cook in large quantity due to poverty. Some working women of middle class families stated “If we cook for more than one time for our convenience and do not have refrigerator then im-merse the utensil containing food in water to keep it cool. For those who can afford enough food and have refrigerators, majority store cooked food/leftovers in them. For thawing meat, majority immerses it in water in lower income groups or defrost in the microwave oven if afford to have it. “The current frequent and long electricity breakdown affected food storage”. Violence against Women Instigators of violence include mother-in- law, stated by majority participants. Others re-sponsible for inciting violence against women included family members, the illiterate, feu-dalists and the mentally unstable persons. Participants of FGDs and IDIs all over Pakistan ac-cepted that “Emotional and physical violence of women do exist in our society and very common”. The crux of the dilemma was that some participant in most of the FGDs believed “Physical violence is justified in some situations”. LHWs said “We are witnessed of physical violence and emotional abuse on women mostly common in rural area but also in urban area too”. Majority of participants across the Pakistan felt the need of specific interventions through community level women groups and broad minded men must be done because vic-tims do not seek justice from police, legal help or government and private institutions. They usually seek help from within their family and friends.


Chapter 11: WHAT NEXT? IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERVENTIONS AND RESEARCH

The key finding from the NNS 2011 is that very little has changed over the last decade in

terms of core maternal and childhood nutrition indicators. The survey does point towards

gains in iodine status nationally following the implementation of a universal salt iodization

and promotion strategy, but is counterbalanced by substantial deterioration in vitamin A

status and little to no gains in other areas of micronutrient deficiencies. These are reflective

of a patchy response to the nutrition situation in Pakistan and lack of coordination in devel-

oping and implementing a coherent nutrition strategy. A draft nutrition strategy was devel-

oped in 2003-4 and even approved by the Planning Commission. However, its final approval

and implementation never took place. Neither have the efforts of the bilateral agencies and

the World Bank translated into a tangible response. Although the floods of 2010 and 2011

once again highlighted the plight of undernutrition in Pakistan, the response was largely

reactive with little movement towards a national strategy for addressing undernutrition.

Despite the fact that these aspects of the poor nutritional status of women and children of

Pakistan have been known for a long time, and have been a subject of multiple surveys,

there is little public awareness at a national level of the importance and impact of nutrition

in the social and economic development of society. Several successive governments have

failed to recognize the importance of nutrition in the health and development of the popu-

lace, and nutrition has thus remained the key element missing from current Social Safety

Nets and income support programs. Given the agrarian nature of the national economy,

there has been consistent denial of household food insecurity, especially among women and

girl children in Pakistan, and few cogent interventions targeting them.

There is a widespread perception that malnutrition is closely related to poverty. While the

relationship cannot be denied, it is complex and the poverty-nutrition interaction in Pakistan

is particularly strongly influenced by the degree and form of female subjugation, which af-

fects the girl child and women alike. It must also be recognized that nutrition is more than

food, and poverty is more than mere income or assets. The few nutrition related interven-


tions in Pakistan that have been undertaken over the last fifty years, have largely followed

the pattern of vertical programs and are largely supported through external aids and grants.

These include vitamin A supplementation, wheat flour fortification and promotion of iodized

salt use. A huge amount of resources have been expended in therapeutic feeding of mal-

nourished children in the wake of the floods but relatively less in preventive and promotive

strategies. Although there have been breastfeeding promotion and support programs at

both community and facility level (through the LHW program and the Baby Friendly Hospital

initiative), the comparable rolling out of complementary feeding promotion and education

strategies or the provision of fortified nutritious weaning foods, has been wanting. Not sur-

prisingly therefore, the net impact of all of such interventions have been negligible in terms

of either nutrition awareness or improvement. In addition to planning nutritional interven-

tions, the creation of a demand at a population level for adequate nutrition is pivotal for the

success of any initiative. Neither widespread malnutrition, nor poor dietary practices

amongst our women and children have been subjects of national awareness or public edu-

cation campaigns. In addition to well-designed interventions, we need a mass campaign for

public awareness of the importance and impact of malnutrition towards the nation's health.

There is thus an overwhelming argument for making an investment in adequate nutrition for

families and children of Pakistan, as a means for economic revival and boosting national mo-

rale. Although Pakistan has had several national nutrition surveys in the past, none have re-

sulted in a national intervention program aimed at redressing the root causes and effects of

malnutrition. To illustrate, although a food aid initiative has been in place for several years

under the auspices of the World Food Program and Pakistan Bait ul Maal, its impact and ef-

fectiveness in reaching the most needy has been limited. For any nutrition intervention to

succeed, it is thus imperative that it be part of a community-based intervention also target-

ing some of the underlying determinants of malnutrition such as household food security,

culturally acceptable food choices, as well as communal decision making for promotion of

health and nutrition. These interventions must be firmly grounded in the principles of equi-

ty, community participation and ownership, while retaining scientific validity. The alarming

findings from the NNS 2011 indicating vast inequities in indicators, suggest the urgent need

for action across a range of interventions for women and children. These include the review

of existing programs for quality such as the vitamin A supplementation program, other mi-


cronutrient fortification strategies and interventions to address food insecurity. Some pilot

projects are underway and additional strategies need to be identified that may help soil zinc

repletion interventions with national staples.

As the NNS 2011 indicates, stunting, wasting and micronutrient malnutrition is endemic in

Pakistan, and reflects a combination of dietary deficiency, poor maternal and child health

and nutrition, a high burden of morbidity, and low micronutrient content of the soil espe-

cially for iodine and zinc. Most of these micronutrients have profound effects on immunity,

growth and mental development, and may underlie the high burden of morbidity and mor-

tality among women and children in Pakistan.

So what can be done? Nutrition is an area which necessitates a multi-sectoral approach for

interventions. Some of the activities to be accomplished are embedded within the domain

of the health sector while others merit broad sustained support and collaboration of other

sectors and partners. For coherence the foundation of the nutrition strategic plan has been

laid down under the overall framework of the Pakistan Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRSP)

wherein the roles and activities of the production and social sectors converge to attain the

overall objective of socio economic uplift including a better quality of life.

The strategic territories where multisectoral support/coordination is imminently required

are institutionalization of nutrition, food safety & regulatory mechanisms, food fortification

and social change communication. The interventions that fall within the ambit of the health

sector are in the areas of maternal, infant and child, adolescent, adult and elderly nutrition.

Collaboration between all partners is essentially required for improving the nutritional sta-

tus of the target population with synergy. Given the devolution of health to the provinces, it

will become even more imperative to develop a concerted and coherent national policy. The

need for a central coordination and oversight mechanism to support provinces, especially

those with limited capacity is imperative given the wide disparities highlighted by the NNS

2011. Among the various functions for this unit could also be the requisite linkages with so-

cial safety nets, agriculture, issues of food safety and food industry regulation.


Social change communication is the key to success for any programme or product in the

masses. Innovative and effective communication strategies would be evolved to bring about

a social and behavioral change in the community for acceptance of interventions under the

nutrition programme that are in line with cultural bindings and yet targeted to clear miscon-

ceptions. Keeping in view the multiplicative effect of malnutrition, on mortality assigned to

infectious diseases, integration of child nutrition with child survival becomes imperative.

Similarly, given the high rates of maternal and child morbidity and mortality in Pakistan, nu-

trition interventions should be closely integrated with strategies for maternal, newborn and

child health. The role of addressing some of the basic determinants of maternal and child

undernutrition in Pakistan cannot be stressed enough. These include addressing issues of

maternal education, empowerment and basic rights. It can be argued that some of the max-

imum gains for maternal education can be achieved by reducing high fertility rates, inap-

propriate child spacing and early marriages.

We would also like to underscore emerging areas of focus that have hitherto been ignored.

One of these is the role of adolescent health and nutrition and the NNS 2011 also provides

illustrative data on the increasing need to address nutrition issues of the elderly. Although

not yet evident in the under 5 population, there are intriguing indicators in the NNS 2011

suggesting that Pakistan may be witnessing the double burden of undernutrition and obesi-

ty within rural and urban women of reproductive age. As defined by WHO the age group

ranging from 10-19 years is considered adolescent and is estimated at about 19% of the to-

tal population. Adolescent nutrition has so far been neglected in Pakistan. This needs great-

er attention in the years to come.

Adult nutrition is marred by a complex interplay of a host of factors such as industrialization,

urbanization, sedentary life styles, imbalanced diets and shifting socio-cultural norms giving

crest to diseases such as hypertension, stroke, coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancers and

others. They tip the nutritional balance in many ways and require a multifaceted approach

for interventions ranging from surveillance, research, social change communication to simp-

ly healthy eating habits. Another area of vital significance is geriatric nutrition, or nutrition

of the elderly. This emerging and growing age group of persons, over sixty years of age, has

nutritional depletions and associated problems that are related to the changing and slowing


metabolism of the body and inadequate replenishment of these nutrients. These changes

bring along a spectrum of health problems including hypertension, stroke, coronary artery

disease, sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass), glucose intolerance and other metabolic disord-

ers, osteoporosis and bone fractures, cancers and others. Efforts will be geared to assimilate

and disseminate information on old age health issues and nutrition. Emphasis will also be

laid on focusing on this emerging priority area for provision of rehabilitative and consulta-

tive services for the needy elderly.

It is beyond the scope of this report to suggest remedies and discuss nutrition related inter-

ventions and strategies in depth. It is envisaged that this NNS 2011 report will provide the

basis for further discussion at federal and provincial level for concerted action and strategy

development. Pakistan urgently needs a nutrition policy and strategy for a coordinated, in-

terlinked, and multi-pronged approach for future endeavors to address malnutrition.


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